Atonement
by Old Night
Summary: Vetra and Sidera Nyx land on the frontier planet of Mirrard looking to settle down and find a lasting place to call their own. But unbeknownst to them an act of mercy threatens to kill them all after a chance meeting with a member of a clan with a major grievance against Turians. "I did it because you hated them more than you loved me."
1. A Warm Welcome

_**Hello,**_

_**In advance I would like to thank you for reading and to let you know that I appreciate any feedback or reviews immensely. I make time to reply and interact with all my readers who are generous enough to reach out.**_

_**That being said, this story does not line up with Mass Effect Andromeda; I am intrigued with the ideas and concepts that will become **__**clear as the chapters go on. I am fond of the Nyx sisters and the timelines and events of Mass Effect do not line up with my own story as **__**it takes place. This story is not about galactic heroism or journeys into the unknown but rather a story about a handful of people and their **__**lives crashing into one another.**_

_**I hope my writing entertains.**_

**-_Old Night_**

_**-0-**_

Vetra Nyx clicked her mandibles in annoyance for the tenth time that day as she almost slipped on the polished blue cobblestones of Grennik, an archaic town on the lonely frontier planet of Mirrard. The frost and snow had come early and with an abrasiveness the locals had in no modest way informed her "was angrier than Turian without a stick up its ass".

It had been a long and fairly unpleasant journey to the system of Uldin and its capital to this little backwater planet on the galactic frontier. She much missed the technologically modern amenities of actually developed planets rather than the wide and uneven streets of the primitive little town she now lived in; crowded by jeering humans and other rough aliens in similarly sour moods. Her younger sister skipped along, enjoying the slick surface beneath her feet as she giggled obliviously to the humans' treatment of her sister.

She had come to Mirrard in an effort if not an outright wish that perhaps she could make an honest living there and perhaps carve out a real home for her and her sister away from all the problems that forced her exile from her home planet; having no other family and scant experience with anything other than smuggling she knew her options were limited.

But Mirrard, as she understood, had its advantages.

Only in the last few months, the local governments on both Turian and Human sides of the intergalactic border had offered monetary and living incentives to those willing to immigrate and settle in the Uldin System and others. She'd suspected that the powers that be simply wanted a populated border between one another as to clearly define the galactic territories at their limits before claiming everything behind the line; but also to create a buffer between one another should either choose to attack. It was not the dumbest idea, considering how sparsely populated this region of space was and how much less so it was now after the Relay 314 Incident which had happened only twelve years earlier, its lasting legacy spooked away all but the most stubborn of settlers.

The fighting had taken place deeper into the galactic sector but Uldin and Mirrard were spared during the incident itself because of their un-strategic positioning and lack of tactical resources. Mirrard, in particular, had a tidy amount of natural resources but the planet was small and heavily forested and boasted nothing to raise the interest of either space-faring races.

Unimportant and quiet seemed like a good place to be.

That was until she'd actually come to the planet and gotten into her habitation block and realized what she'd actually been paid to come and settle in. Turned out Mirrard was full of a particular kind of human and she'd quickly learned they had a thing against other galactic species and widely avoided modern technology. More than once she had asked others who lived on the planet longer than she what were the prime things to be aware of and their answers varied but two things were mentioned more often than anything else.

The human inhabitants of Mirrard were by and large part of a cult called "Darskirr" that strove for the antediluvian "essence" of mankind.

And the idea of who was "accepted" and who was not was paramount to the humans.

All non-humans on the planet- who could count themselves an absolute minority- had adopted a habit of careful segregation in order to better adapt and find their place. Though no rule was written occasionally there was violence.

Luckily, Vetra admitted to herself, the humans of her particular town of Grennik were fairly demure.

Save for the ever-present hard looks and occasional sneer she was allowed to live in relative peace.

Sid cooed with delight as she accelerated her pace ahead of her then slid on the thin ice that had accumulated on the sidewalk.

Many things bothered Vetra about Mirrard but living with her sister and needing not to worry about law enforcement or getting stabbed in the back gave her hope for the future- and no amount of narrowminded or backward humans would poison that for her.

Lost in thought Vetra noticed only too late that Sid's last enthusiastic lunge was carrying her straight into a bystander waiting for their turn to cross the street.

"Sid!" Vetra snapped as her younger sister crashed bodily into the side of the bystander, her shorter frame shoving the individual's left side causing them to fall- hard- on their ass. Awkwardly Sid tried to catch the victim of her unintended hip check and only succeeded in grabbing their entire arm before looking at them, then at her older sister in the moon-eyed way children do when they know they are in trouble.

Vetra advanced as quickly as she could before grunting in as much anger as anticipation of pain as she felt her balance escape her and she fell to her knees accidentally trying to catch herself and only succeeding in shoving the victim against the ground onto his back.

Humans walking by burst into delighted at laughter and wondered out-loud who the unlucky recipient of the Turian assault was.

"S-Sir, I am so sorry I didn't mean to, I just started sliding and I couldn't sto-"

Sid's hasty apology was cut short by a peal of barking laughter from the bystander which faded into a groan as he sat back up.

"Elder Winter strikes again it seems. This was only my second fall today and I was doing so good."

Vetra smiled, the recipient of her sister's fumbling had a sense of humor- thank goodness.

"Are you alright, sir? Sid, you _need _to be careful. You could have hurt this man." she chided as Sid shrunk into her shoulders as she continued to hold onto the stranger's arm.

With another amicable laugh, the stranger pulled off his deep hood and scarf and with a sharp tug he removed the ancient listening device he had inserted into both his ears. "Excuse me, I couldn't hear you save for your frantic tones."

The stranger was a human and the smile in his voice and his face died as he craned his head back to look at Vetra.

For an instant Vetra felt a wave of hostility wash over her, the human didn't see her so much as through her before the wave subsided and his face resumed an even gaze.

"Oh." he said simply as he regarded her with cold indifference, or perhaps disdain.

Then his face looked back at Sid who stared at him with a grimace of guilt even as she continued to hold his arm tight.

With a small twist of the lips a small, practiced smile appeared on his face as quickly as the cold look had suddenly left him.

"Hello, young lady." the man offered.

"Hi. I'm sorry."

"All is forgiven. You _will_, however, be more careful. Slide into a street when a vehicle is coming and that's the end of you."

Vetra, pulled herself up before offering her hand to the human only to feel a bloom of anger on her cheeks as he stood himself up while staring at her with hard eyes. Sid stayed latched on pushing him up to his feet.

"Please excuse my little sister, we're leaving now."

"That would be good" the human intoned before flashing another small smile at Sid.

"Thank you for your help, young lady."

Sid beamed and latched onto Vetra's outstretched hand as her older sister rushed down the street for a block before slowing down.

"Sid, how many times have I told you to stop sliding?" she exhaled as her embarrassment subsided.

"Sorry, Vee. It's just fun."

"Yup, until you fall down, slide into traffic or knock down a human."

"He seemed nice."

With the eleventh click of her mandibles that day Vetra sighed.

"Sid, we are not on Palaven anymore. Turians are few and far between on Mirrard and the humans don't like us or anyone else for that matter. It's important not to irritate them."

"That's not true! At school, my friend Errall Puyora said he's friends with his human neighbor's children and he's a Salarian."

"Sid" Vetra gritted pleadingly. "I don't want to worry about you, promise me you'll steer clear of them."

"But they're everywhere."

"I know that! Just-just don't cause problems, ok?"

Sid looked away and nodded, Vetra narrowed her eyes as a fresh wave of irritation consumed her. Sid wasn't going to listen and she was going to have to ground her.

Stress teased a hard swallow from Vetra. The truth was she felt deeply uncomfortable at times on this new planet, she'd seen maybe three Turians total since she'd arrived a month ago and all seemed reclusive and quiet. Her imagination took her to unpleasant conclusions as to how life would unfold for her and her little sister over time even if the humans never got fed up with all the other extragalactic races that lived on Grennik. A life spent walking on eggshells with no community and no family or friends seemed like a fate worse than a life spent sailing through space.

At least the space between galaxies was warmer than the humans of Mirrard had been.

So lost in thought she'd been that she hadn't noticed her younger sister staring at her left away from her until she felt Sid lightly press into her side.

Her eyes went to her sister, then the fair-skinned hand pushing her into her older sister.

"What are you doing?!" Vetra snapped at the human who they had knocked over as he kept pace with them.

The human again regarded her a few seconds later with a look of mild bafflement as he withdrew his hand and a bench passed between them where Sid had been walking only a few seconds before.

"Making sure your sister does not walk into any object bolted onto the sidewalk. What were _you_ doing?"

Vetra stopped and pulled Sid behind her.

"If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny, human."

The human halted a few feet away from them as he regarded her with a look of amused mastery. His mouth opened a bit before his eyes went to Sid who had stopped smiling and was looking at the exchange worriedly. His mouth closed and he drew a deep breath before exhaling a cloud of mist that curled like smoke in the frigid winter air.

"I mean you and yours no harm, Turian." said the human.

"Stop. Following. Us." answered Vetra, drawing herself up to her full height.

The human narrowed his eyes at her but the smile never left his face, Vetra could see his venomous disposition simmering his beneath the surface.

"I was not. My path today happens to take me this way."

Vetra took a step forward and clenched her fists. She towered at least fifty centimeters over the human and she was not about to take his shit.

"I think you need to find a different way then. And if you _ever_ touch my sister again you are going to lose a few fingers."

The human held up his hands and languidly wiggled his fingers. His dark brown eyes smiled with his expression as he gazed into Vetra's own, furious, azure eyes.

"Bigger Turians than you have made similar threats and yet I still have all my digits."

Vetra took another step forward and bent her elbows, she felt a roiling sense of revulsion at the human's audacity to touch her sister and a mask of heat was forming under her faceplates from the anger at his arrogance.

"Walk away, human. Before you find yourself in a problem you won't be able to walk away from."

With a snap of his fingers in the gesture of a gun he winked at Vetra before turning away, "A bigger problem still would be tardiness for work any day of the week, no?".

Vetra relaxed her arms an inch as the human gave in and broke the confrontation first. She didn't relish the idea of making a mess out of a brazen idiot, much less in a town full of other presumably brazen idiots.

Of the same species no less.

"By the way, you have a pudgy waist and bony hips!" called out the human as he turned again with a toothy, malicious grin.

Vetra's jaw dropped as all her anger evaporated and she suddenly felt very self-conscious.

A trilling and loud laughter erupted from the human's mouth as he held his abdomen with both arms crossed over it.

The Turian was completely taken aback, throughout her lifetime of experiences that endowed her with a quick wit and a sharp tongue she had only rarely been rendered speechless. And of all the things she expected that any human could have ever said to her; a dig at her insecurities as a Turian female was not one of them. It was such a niche and personalized insult she had no idea how to react.

Skipping away from them the human sped off down the street as quickly as he dared as to not fall on his rear again all while chuckling like an idiot.

"Vee?" started Sid as she pulled on her older sister's arm. "Why did he say you have bony hips?"

"I don't! Shut up!"

-0-

Vetra worked in silence in the bright warehouse where she'd found employment, all while trying very hard to ignore the chill nipping at her feet.

The business was called "Sapphire Salvage and Relics" and was owned by an Asari- thank goodness- named Lixan Druhn; the Turian had been relieved and pleasantly surprised when she'd been offered a job before she could even ask for one as soon as she'd explained her experiences in smuggling as "resource acquisition". As it turned out before proper colonization efforts had taken place nearly half a century before, subtle gravitational pulls and mere serendipity had in fact seeded intergalactic satellites and other assorted detritus all over the planet while space-faring races homed in on the surrounding system.

It was also rumored there space pirates had also lost more than one ship that had then crashed into Mirrard, but no one had ever found out.

Work had been slow for the last few weeks and she'd mostly been directed to help with the SSR's other focus in between salvaging jobs; goods transportation and vehicular repair.

This required her to interact with the humans under Lixan's employ more than she would have liked. But they had been cordial enough, if standoffish, just as her employer had assured her they would be.

Activating her omnitool she began to scroll through the digital inventory looking for the right place to add a surplus vehicular part that they hadn't ordered. She clicked the right set and then stood from her small desk in the corner of the repair and retrofitting area, stretching her legs and picking up the small but heavy package she began to walk the part down the aisles of unidentifiable hardware. On her way, she passed Lixan's three human mechanics chatting happily who would better know where to put it away, but she didn't ask nor did they offer.

Suited her just fine. If it saved her the effort of conversing with the pink-skins then she'd just find the place herself.

After hefting the box into place she felt her omnitool vibrate, alerting her to a call. She clicked on the glowing orange display and answered "Nyx. What do you need?"

"Ms. Nyx, you have a phone call from the school."

Vetra narrowed her eyes, Sid was in trouble.

Again.

"What did she do? She's not listening to her teachers or did she get into another fight?"

Lixan chuckled on the other line, "That's mean. As Sid tells the story she's only ever fought bullies, though I cannot speak for the lack of attention at school. However, they wouldn't say. They insisted that the call was just for you as her only family."

Before she even spoke her legs were already moving rapidly toward Lixan's office. Insisting to speak to family was unusual and it set her on edge. Her employer's comment, though factual and well-meaning did sting a little. She wished their father was around, their mother was never around even when things were good anyway.

Hurrying up to her office she fumbled with the antiquated piece of technology before Lixan made a gesture for her to hold the receiver to her ear and the speaker to her mouth.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Ms. Nyx. This is Ana from the principal's office, your sister got hurt today."

"How?!" snapped Vetra before catching herself. Embarrassment colored her cheeks but hearing a human tell her her sister had been injured were two things she didn't like together, though it was not Ana's fault.

"Her class was let out for recess and I believe she tried to climb a tree, then slipped, fell and broke her leg."

"I'm on my way." blurted out Vetra before looking at Lixan for an instant and remembering she was at work. The Asari smiled sympathetically and waved her to go on.

"Wait!"

Vetra and Lixan focused on the phone's speaker.

"We took the liberty of contacting the nearby clinic as the owner is known to us. Your sister will require medical attention but perhaps the broken leg can be mended there instead of two hours away at the hospital in Kuov. Go to the clinic instead of here, Sid's teacher will be with her."

"Thank you, Ana." the Turian breathed through a clenched mandible and closed eyes.

She hated thinking like this but as she stepped out of SSR and into the snowy street and bright suns she wondered for a moment how much leaner the month was going to be in financial terms for whatever she clinic chose to gouge her for. Granted Sid nor she had ever made use of it but she said a small prayer to the spirits as she hadn't done in years:

"Spirits let my sister mend quickly. And please let it be a Turian clinic."

-0-

Vetra opened the heavy wooden doors of the clinic as an amber light greeted her from inside and at first, she almost turned on her heel to leave.

"You are in the right place!" called out a Salarian behind a wooden desk.

The Turian's eyes adjusted to the softer light and looked about; several tables lay about without obstructing passage to the Salarian's own desk. Humans, Salarians and a pair of Asari waited in various states of mild injury or illness. A young human female came and went serving tea and offering healthy foodstuffs to the waiting patients. Vetra furrowed her brow in consternation; this looked more like someone's house than a clinic.

"Welcome to _The Apothecary_, I am Grinnisaria Ullamox, call me Grin for simplicity's sake. You must be Ms. Vetra Nyx, correct?"

Vetra shook her head for a moment realizing she was expected and approached the desk as the Salarian stood and gestured her towards the righthand hall.

"Yes, that's me. Where is my sister?"

"She is in room six, I shall take you there." Grin replied and she sped ahead with hurried but measured steps before gesturing to the room to her left with the perfect etiquette of an awkward hostess. "If you require anything else please activate the red button by the door inside the room and an attendant will be with you shortly," she added before withdrawing with the same unnecessarily speedy gait.

With a shudder then a sigh of relief Vetra let herself into the room to the glad face of Sid's Asari teacher whose name she could not recall and the guilty look of her sister who remained seated and with eyes averted to her leg.

"I'm glad you are here, Ms. Nyx. I am so sorry this happened-"

"It is fine, don't worry. My little sister knows better than to go on climbing frozen trees, which is why I would never expect her to end up at a clinic for a broken leg."

Sid's hands fastened around her shins gingerly as her head shrunk into her shoulders.

"Like I warned her could happen. Just last week in fact."

A knock on the door interrupted the one-sided dialogue, "Can I come in, ladies?" called out a voice just outside. A human voice, a female.

Vetra clenched her fists without realizing as she expected yet another uncomfortable interaction. "Come in."

Blonde hair and bright blue eyes peeked through the door as a young-ish human female entered the room in clothing the likes of which the had never seen before.

White slacks with wrist length billowy sleeves and what appeared to be a white apron. She wore her hair in a tight braid and her smile betrayed no disdain for the Turians in the room.

"Hi, you two are the Nyx sisters? I'm Amanda, I'll be looking after you for now." she started with a bubbly disposition to match her tone.

At this Vetra raised an eyebrow.

"Are you a doctor?"

Amanda clasped her hands before her and hung them at her waist in a fluid, practiced motion as her smile dampened. "No, ma'am. I am a medical assistant."

"So where is the doctor?"

"We don't have one."

Vetra blinked and her hand shot to grab her younger sister by a centimeter before she realized her sister had a broken leg and couldn't walk.

"What do you mean; you don't have a doctor? How is this clinic allowed to run without one?"

The human nodded her head deferentially and sighed without disrespect, "This is a common remark but I assure you Sindri is very capable of fixing a broken leg and he is more educated than most regardin-"

"If he's not a doctor then what is he?"

Amanda winced and said "He is the most senior medical assistant we have-"

"Sid, we are leaving."

The Asari stood up for a moment and put her hand on Vetra's back sympathetically.

"Please, Ms. Nyx I understand your hesitance. Everyone has the same reaction but believe me when I say; sooner or later everyone comes to The Apothecary and gets patched up. It is not easy getting proper medical care out here in the frontier but Sindri is quite good and if there is something that is beyond his skill to heal he arranges transportation to Kuov where they do have a- more modern- hospital."

Vetra looked straight at her sister who was cringing away from her. She didn't have private transportation and the disaster it would be to try and find a willing driver in Grennik made the idea of walking palatable. Her options seemed slim against the snow.

With a sudden drop she sat down next to her sister, crossed her arms and looked at Amanda.

"If I so much as get a whiff that this glorified bedpan washer doesn't know what he's doing we are leaving."

Amanda smiled and her eyes glittered with humor once again.

"Funny you should say that, he's called himself as much. Last week when he helped deliver a baby he said-"

Her amicable demeanor withered under Vetra's glare.

"He just has a sense of humor, you know?"

The four sat in silence for a while before Sid spoke.

"I'm hungry."

Vetra looked at her younger sibling. It was neither a demand nor a request, it was one of those increasingly rarer moments where her little sister still acted like a child. She stated to the world around her that she wanted food.

"I don't think they have dextro-compatible food, kiddo."

Amanda frowned at the little Turian, "I could go ask at the front desk, honey. The worst thing that could happen is that the answer is no."

The older Turian sighed, "No, do your job and stay with her. I'll go ask Grin."

Stepping out of the room Vetra and began to walk back to the front desk, as she did so she couldn't resist glancing into the open rooms as she passed. To her surprise, it was mostly non-humans who came to the clinic and conversely it was mostly human staff doing the actual healing. Each one was professionally dressed in their ridiculous outfits. She slowly became aware of a subtle scent and quiet in the hall between the rooms.

It was a pleasant smell, smoky and rich but she could detect no burning fires or herbs anywhere. The amber light had a warmth to it that made her feel good and was clawing at her nerves to settle. She realized for a place that was full of injured and ill people it was a surprisingly calm place.

"Thank you for the embroidery, Doc. And the stitches too, next round is on me when I catch you again." rumbled a Krogan in an as amicable tone as that taciturn race is capable of as he stepped out of his room.

Vetra stood still for a moment as the Krogan walked past her without a top and back towards the front desk where he asked if Grin had a sheet. Shooting up from her desk she shuffled away in her busy little half-run into another room before returning and wrapping the sheet like a shawl around the Krogan's torso. Her eyes noticed the horrific-looking cut that was now so neatly stitched together on the brute's side. Then without words, Grin helped the Krogan put on his jacket which had a matching rip into its flank, which was also stitched expertly back together.

"Did you need something Ms. Nyx?" asked Grin as she turned her head to look at her.

Feeling a fresh flush of embarrassment for gawking she then shook her head and approached the Salarian. "Do you happen to have any dextro-compatible food? My sister is getting hungry."

Without breaking eye contact, Grin produced a little black apparatus with an antenna and two buttons on it. She pressed one and asked "Apothecary, do we have any food that is dextro-compatible? Your next patient, I fear, is becoming hungry."

A garble of static, "Dextro? Did we get a Quarian patient finally? You know we have no sterile rooms, we'd be no good for them."

"No sir, a Turian female. Ten years old, broken tibia and fibula, waiting in room 6. Increasingly hungry."

There was a short pause.

"Give me a minute to gather what I need."

Vetra frowned and Grin bowed her head slightly.

"I'll make sure he checks."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it."

Another garble of static, "Ms. Ullamox."

The Turian stopped in her tracks as Grin turned to look at her with a blank expression as if awaiting input.

"Yes, Apothecary?"

"Is this an unaccompanied minor in room 6?"

"No sir, her family is here."

"Have them file out, can't work with a crowded room."

Grin unclicked the button then pressed her palm against the speaker of the device as if to prevent eavesdropping from the other side.

"Ms. Nyx, will there be any other family coming?"

Vetra shook her head patiently, "No, it's just my sister and me ever since we left Palaven. No family."

"No, sir. It is just the patient and her sister ever since they left Palaven. No family." repeated.

Wide-eyed the Turian stared back at the Salarian.

"Why would you repeat something like that to the doctor?"

"I repeated what you said. Should I have softened my quoting of what you said?"

Vetra looked at the Salarian searching for an answer in her wide, black eyes. Something was off about her.

"And to correct you: Mr. Sindri Bogatyr is not a doctor he is the most senior-"

"I got that! He's not a doctor."

"I am glad you understand the technical difference. While he never went to any form of medical school many call him a doctor or "Doc" out of respect."

The Turian looked at her for a moment longer before telling her she'd be returning to room six. Immediately after, Grin turned on her heel without delay and sat in perfect posture at her desk as their interaction was finished.

"Shit" Vetra thought to herself as she committed the name to memory. Sindri Bogatyr she would bet her last credit was a human name. Cringing she wondered how badly she was going to be bled for money after the orderly did his work. Perhaps she could work out a deal or a way to pay him over time. But it made her angry to know that she was going to be squeezed just because the humans on this planet hated the other races.

Pulling up her seat by her sister Vetra buried her hands in her face. The warm light and smell were coming back and her anxiety was slowly subsiding despite her being determined to worry.

"Vee-," Sid started.

"I'm sorry I broke my leg and caused a problem. I won't do it again."

A little hand pressed itself on Vetra's shoulder and lightly shook her.

Finding she couldn't fight a smile the elder sister looked at the younger.

"Kiddo, I just want you to be safe. That's all. I am angry because I was scared for you more than anything else. You know how important you are to me."

The Asari smiled and Amanda covered her mouth to hide her own.

A curt knock on the door snapped the occupants of the room out of the moment, Amanda reached for the door and opened just enough to see who it was.

"Oh! Here he is, the man himself," she said as she swung the door open to reveal a medical professional not unlike her but dressed in black pushing a tray with new vials and needles, not to mention an unknown apparatus that looked like a baking oven.

The adults stood up as the man entered and Vetra's blood ran cold as she and he locked eyes.

Grinning from ear to ear and with a gratified glitter in his eyes to match the human stood up straight and laughed in earnest.

"And welcome back!" he intoned as he looked down at the younger Nyx.

"No." said Vetra as she placed her hand on the human's chest and pushed him backwards and into the wall- and not a little roughly. The man's expression did not change, he looked at her with amusement and not a hint of anxiety.

"No?"

"Not you. Get someone else."

With a toothy grin, the human put up a single hand and slowly shook his index finger.

"There is no one else. The rest of my staff is unfamiliar with Turian anatomy-"

"Bullshit. There has to be someone here who can take care of my sister, but it won't be a pink-skin like you."

"Ms. Nyx! Language!" chided the Asari as she snapped out of her silence.

"Madam, that is deeply inappropriate." started Amanda as she crossed her arms, her sunny disposition gone.

Vetra then became very aware of everyone else in the room.

"You don't understand, this creep touched my sister on the way to school this morning." she started at the women in the room.

Smiling with delight the human looked straight into her eyes.

"To be fair I touched your sister to push her out of the way of a bench you were about to walk her into."

"My sister doesn't need your help, stop talking about her like she's slow in the head because she could perfectly well see the bench."

"I didn't, I was looking at you to see if you were still mad."

"Sid!" Vetra snapped at her sister who had started to smile thinking the exchange was funny, mostly because of how gregarious the funny man from that morning was.

Turning her head back at the human she rasped through gritted teeth and a tense jaw, "Get. Someone. Else."

The returned her gaze evenly with a polite smile.

"No."

Vetra clenched her fist and of its own accord, it pulled back as if to wind it up to punch him in the face.

"I'll rephrase."

The Asari and Amanda looked on, unsure what to do in breaking up a fight that had yet to start and at the same time afraid that if they intervened they could set the Turian off.

"No, there is no one else I would trust to handle a broken leg on a Turian child without my direct supervision. Secondly, are you going to put your sister through a two-hour drive through the snow to the hospital just because I was rude to you this morning?"

Underneath her faceplates, Vetra could feel the heat rising from being shamed. She gradually began to deflate and blush colored her cheeks from her outburst.

Why did it have to be this asshole?

"You love your sister, that much is obvious. I know that kind of love. Let me help her." said the human as he lightly touched her on the shoulder.

His tone was sincere and reassuring.

Taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor she stepped aside slowly as she continued to watch him.

The human smiled at her warmly and knelt down by Sid.

"What is your name, little miss?"

"Sidera Nyx, but everyone calls me Sid."

With another smile, the human shook her hand gently, "Well, how very nice to meet you Sidera Nyx. I am called Sindri Bogatyr. Do you mind if I pick you up and put you on the table? Which leg is hurt?"

The little Turian touched her right leg and then wrapped her arms around Sindri's neck as he picked her up princess style and effortlessly stood with one hundred and twenty pounds of ten-year-old Turian in his arms.

"Amanda, if you please would you bring the portable x-ray?"

The young woman nodded and bounded away, clearly satisfied the pair hadn't come to blows.

Reaching to his tray and stepping on a pedal beneath the medical table he pumped the table up to his abdomen and took another look at the various vials he had on the table and the according needles.

"So, Sid. How did this hurt come about?"

"I fell out of a tree."

"Why were you climbing it? The branches are brittle this time of year."

"This is my first winter, Vee and I haven't been here long."

"Oh? And how do you like it? I know we Mirrard humans are not a welcoming sort."

The little Turian hissed as she shifted her leg and a fresh snap of pain brought her out of the conversation.

Nonchalantly Sindri poked her boot and said, "I'm going to very slowly take this off and roll up your pant sleeve so I can take a better look at your leg. Is that ok?"

Sid nodded and paid very close attention to Sindri's languid but practiced movements in delicately removing an article of clothing off an injury.

"Vee says that humans don't like non-humans and that I should stay away from them."

Suddenly very self-conscious Vetra wondered how much of a beating she was going to take in one conversation about her private advisement of her younger sister. She also didn't want to aggravate the only person who could mend her sister's leg in town but he'd surely have something indignant to say in defense of his species.

"Your sister is wise."

At this, the Turian looked up at the back of the human's head. He continued as though only Sid and he were in the room even as Amanda walked in with an apparatus with a semi-circular dish sprouting from an arm in the machine's frame.

"Ms. Sid, on Mirrard much like everywhere else you have to figure who are your friends and who are not. It takes time to know if someone you've found is a friend that will last. Thankfully not-friends reveal themselves quickly, but I can tell you this much for certain; most humans on Mirrard don't want to be friends with you or your Vetra."

The little Turian looked at him with consternation as she struggled to understand, her sister also listened intently.

"Does that mean you don't want to be my friend?"

Without pausing Sindri popped off her boot after zipping it while keeping her leg perfectly still, "Oh, I don't know about all that."

Holding his head high and looking down on Sid with an air of mild snobbishness he slipped a pair of nitrile gloves on.

"Making new friends is hard for me. I only really like toughs. You know the types. They don't cry when they get hurt, they are strong and dependable. The kind of people that remind me what it's like to be strong, so I can be the tough friend others rely on too."

Sid's eyes brightened as she gesticulated with her hands, likely as much to grab onto what he said as to coax the words out of her own throat.

"I'm tough! When I fell out of the tree I didn't even cry!"

Sindri stifled a laugh as he cocked his head down a bit now feigning surprise by the little Turian's claim.

"Wow, that's pretty tough. I cut my hand last week and I cried for an hour, Amanda saw."

"I did! It was pretty embarrassing."

Slapping both her hands onto her mouth as to not laugh at the human she wiggled in her seat at the table before continuing.

"Vee and I have traveled a lot too! We were born on Palaven where Turians are from, but I'm too young to remember. I was just a baby when Vee and I started moving around too. We lived on a few space stations and that's super dangerous if the windows get a hole in them it will suck you out and throw you into space and you'll **die**."

The human cupped his mouth while his face assumed an air of sincere dread as his assistant activated the machine and moved its dish upwards then oriented it a meter above Sid's leg.

"And you weren't scared?"

"Nope! My sister knows everything, she is _really tough_. Mother and father weren't around so she had to figure out what we were doing."

With a smile, Amanda interjected "I'm going to move your leg a little, ok honey? We just need to take a picture to see what's broken."

She reached over gently towards Sid's spurs before Sindri's hands lightly intercepted her. Sindri's eyes flickered and the air around him changed to that of the eponymous apothecary for which the clinic was named.

"Ms. Amanda, be mindful; the leg spurs on a Turian are directly bonded to their tibial bones through the shin plates. While it does make an appealing little handhold you may just as well pull on the broken bones. So instead you should lift underneath the knee and beneath the ankle on their digitigrade feet, like so-"

Noiselessly and without a wince of pain, Sid looked on keenly, drinking in every word from her prospective friend as Sindri moved her leg over a few centimeters while only abducting her leg away from her body anatomically without disturbing the actual structure.

With a pleased exhalation, the human looked at the young turian and smiled.

"I'd be lucky to have a sister like yours, Vetra sounds like she's one of a kind."

Silently Amanda flipped on the half dish over Sid's leg as she then looked back to the machine and began to clack away on its old keyboard as the dish began to slowly glow.

"You don't have a sister?"

"Nope." the Apothecary smiled.

"Do you have a mother and father?"

"Nope!"

"Where were you born?"

"On the moon. I fell out of it and I'm not sure which is the right moon now."

"Are you being funny?"

"Nope," answered Sindri with a grin. "I promise, I don't have parents or brothers or sisters."

"Do you want to come live with Vetra and me?"

With a laugh Sindri shook his head, "I'm not homeless you ding-dong. I live somewhere out in the woods."

"Why so far?"

He leaned over to look at the machine's image. Giving Amanda a thumbs up and instructed her on the "print" for the little oven they had brought with them.

"Because it is hard for me to make friends and if I can't be around friends I'd rather be alone."

Amanda rolled her eyes as she punched his arm lightly.

"Don't let this mean old monster fool you. He's got plenty of friends and people who love him, he just insists on living all alone out in the cold."

Raising an eyebrow he looked at Amanda and asked "Who are you calling old? I'm not even thirty years old yet."

"Couple more years, old man."

Turning around with a look of injurious surprise he turned to the other two adults in the room and whispered "Can you believe the level of disrespect I am treated with? It is as though I am moist garbage."

The Asari stifled a laugh, Vetra shook her head trying not to giggle despite herself. For someone who she had felt ready to strangle to death a scant fifteen minutes prior, Sindri was easy to like.

He was also easy to hate she admitted to herself, so easy it was for him to worm under her scales and press just the right buttons to incense her.

Sindri clapped his hands together, as he smiled at Sid.

"Ms. Sid, you told me you are pretty tough and after all, I've heard I am starting to think you've got some moxie. But-"

He paused for dramatic effect, Amanda covered her mouth and looked at Sid who seemed excited and expectant.

"I am going to need you to prove it."

Reaching over and turning the little tray upon which the machine rested he showed her and the adults in part the imagines on its screen.

"Now, here you snapped the two bones beneath your knee and above your ankle nice and clean. But the good news is that the snap was just so and nothing is going to need re-adjusting. Thank goodness for that. However, you will need an injection deep into the muscle for a bit of medicine that will help you mend faster and stronger."

Sid's eyes flickered to the tray and Vetra stood up holding herself, now the picture of a concerned sibling she stepped by Sindri looking at the image of her sister's broken bones.

"Why? Why will she need that?"

Turning towards Vetra, Sindri intoned warmly "To ensure she mends."

She looked at him confused.

"Why wouldn't she?"

"You haven't been here long, so I've heard from a little bird who told me. And dextro-compatible food is not easy to find here in Grennik and to be perfectly honest with you I will be tremendously upset if my patient does not heal properly for want of food. So what I am going to do is inject a cocktail of distilled medigel with all the vitamins and minerals a growing turian would need to heal a broken leg."

Vetra exhaled.

"She won't go hungry."

"I'm not hearing a no."

"Go ahead."

Sindri shook all three vials as he returned his gaze at Sid.

"As I said, I need you to prove to me that you are tough, Sid. That's if you want to be friends. If you don't think you can take the injection without flinching then I won't give it to you."

The little turian shook her head hard with a determined look on her face and tried lifting her leg to offer it before hissing in pain again.

"How bold," said Sindri with a smile before drawing the appropriate amounts out of each vial.

Holding up the large syringe he gave it a little squirt to test.

"Last chance to back out, Ms. Sid."

Feigning surprise, Sindri leaned back and whispered to Vetra much too loudly; "Do you think she's got this?"

With a smile she looked at her younger sister, "I know she does. She's tough."

The apothecary handed Sid a little swab of alcohol.

"Rub it where you want me to stick you with the needle."

Rubbing her calf vigorously Sid clenched her fists as she looked straight at Sindri then nodded.

Sindri wheezed as he laughed lightly, "Anywhere on the calf then."

Sid winced but remained perfectly still as with a practiced hand the needle slipped into the soft flesh on the back of her calf then withdrew after a quick push of its plunger.

"All done!" said Amanda as she clapped for Sid.

Removing his glove with that same air of pretension he'd so quickly summoned before Sindri bowed his head respectfully and offered his bare hand to the little turian.

"Sidera Nyx, I would be very proud to be able to call myself your friend. Do you still want to be friends?"

Excitedly she reached for a hug which Sindri leaned into and amicably patted her back.

"I'm glad. Are you hungry?"

"I am!" answered Sid instantaneously.

Sindri then reached into his pockets and produced few bars of dextro-compatible sweets and treats.

"Do I get to pick one?"

"Nah, take them all. You are my only Turian friend anyways."

With a squeak, Sid grabbed them and tore into one with a green label before wolfing it down oblivious to the ding of the oven apparatus.

Smiling placidly Sindri patted Sid on the head and made an offering gesture to Amanda, "Brace fitting and physical education is your wheelhouse, Amanda. Please excuse me for some paperwork."

"See you later, my friend," he said.

Sid waved happily, "Bye-bye, Sindri!"

And with that, the apothecary was gone out the door.

Vetra blinked then looked at the Asari teacher then at Amanda as she went about fitting velcro straps to a silicone shell the oven had cooked up that looked like it would fit the leg of a ten-year-old turian.

"I'm sorry, what's your name?"

The Asari smiled, "Mrs. Rivana."

"Could you watch her for a bit, I have to ask Sindri about something."

With a wink from Rivana, Vetra got up and left the room and sped after the fleeing healer.

"Sindri." Vetra called out only for the man to turn and wonder out loud as much to her as to himself "Did I forget something?"

Closing the distance with him Sindri turned again and walked away from her and past the main lobby.

"It occurs to me that I should write you some instructions and notes before I send you two home."

Anxiety nipped at the edges of Vetra's fluttering mandibles. As pleasant as this visit to a medical clinic had turned out and the deft way this morning's tormentor had with children to make said visit borderline fun she was dreading what was to come next.

The subject of payment.

Frontier grants from Palaven didn't include visits to a community medical clinic instead of a perfectly good hospital two hours away.

"I wanted to thank you for being so good with my sister. I haven't seen her that engaged in a long time, it's like she is acting her age again. In a positive way, I mean." she started as she took a seat in Sindri's office.

"No worries, Ms. Nyx. I like children and I like helping others," he said with a half-smile as he looked at Vetra again.

She winced. There it was again, a frigid look in his eye like he didn't see her but through her.

"I was worried after this morning. You seemed so angry after you looked at me."

With a deepening scowl, Sindri's eyes bored into Vetra's.

"My ass hurt."

Instead of looking away or arguing Vetra looked into his eyes and held his gaze. She had to develop the ability to read the room and someone's disposition when she'd been smuggling in the more civilized parts of the galaxy before coming to Mirrard. And there was something embedded deep into the man's eyes.

There was a not-insignificant amount of genuine but expertly restrained anger.

Some contempt simmered there too, she could see it on his lips.

But deeper still was a well of something strange that was slowly bubbling up, before she could guess at what it was the human looked away and back down to his notes.

"What is wrong with you?" she thought to herself.

Scribbling rapidly on a piece of lined paper with a pen Sindri began to reiterate in a kinder tone.

"Obviously, Sid needs to use the immobilizer we printed out for her and the crutches we will provide for her until she gets better. With the dextro-OSPRP injection I gave her will ensure she'll heal smoothly but she _needs_ to eat and remain active so she mends as though nothing happened and she grows up fine and healthy."

"That's actually something I wanted to touch on with you."

"Dextro-food can be found in Grennik. I can give you the name of the guy who sells it."

"Not that, Sid won't go hungry."

Sindri looked up from his pad and the air between them began to chill again, his pen flicked in his fingers to point at Vetra like a black talon.

"_You_ are all the kindred that that little girl has. _You_ cannot afford to falter."

The turian bristled at him.

"I know that. I've been taking care of her since she was born. I don't need a-"

"Pink-Skin?" interjected Sindri with a smile.

Vetra blinked at him before very obviously choosing to continue her train of thought.

"-a stranger, to tell me what my sister needs."

Satisfied with her answer Sindri then turned around and rifled through a list of cards, one of which he copied the numbers off of.

"This guy is reliable and he's not a pink-skin. He can sell you the high end ready to eat meals like in the Turian military gives its officers instead of what it gives the troops in- what's that called? Bootcamp?"

"Wouldn't know what that's like, never finished it." she snapped back before shutting her eyes, wondering why she offered that information just to be a contrarian.

Upon opening her eyes she could see the contempt dripping from Sindri's face.

"It shows."

Vetra stood up from the chair and snarled at him "How much is this going to cost?"

"The food? I don't know how much per unit."

"No, you asshole. The treatment you gave my sister."

Instantly brightening in demeanor and tone the human smiled and brought his hands up as if dredging the price from the depths as he stood up.

"Nothing."

Vetra narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm waiting to hear a number and I'm in no mood for any more of your bullshit today. What are you going to charge me for healing my sister and the privilege of insulting me to my face and getting away with it."

The smile never left his face and the sincerity in his warm tone never wavered as he answered her.

"Get fucked. You don't owe me anything."

Vetra raised her clenched fists to her head and took a deep breath. Spirits help her she was going to kill this man.

"Everything comes with a price, either in money or in favors. I am not leaving until I owe you neither."

"Oh yes you are because you don't owe me anything and you are not pig-headed enough to stick around to settle some imaginary debt between us all the while preventing your sister from going home."

Snapping his fingers at her in the gesture of a gun he added, "You shit-wit."

Stomping her foot hard enough for it to echo down the hall Vetra stepped well into Sindri's space before lowering herself to near eye level even as she towered above him.

"I am not leaving a loose end for you to call in some favor later. I mean it, how much will this cost?"

A smug and triumphant expression broke on Sindri's face as he turned his face away from her in crude mimicry of modest embarrassment.

"I don't think I've ever had an uglier woman flirt with me this aggressively before in my life."

Vetra scraped her fingers along her crest as her face contorted in rage.

"Listen- Vee- I am flattered but I think Turians are the most disgusting things ever to have walked creation."

Turning away from the woman with murder in her eyes he gathered together the instructions and paperwork for his patient's recovery.

"And you don't owe me a single credit. Besides the silicone immobilizer costs next to nothing and the medicine I gave your sister was basically a vitamin shot I can that I can get more of for a song. So get fucked, and get out. Now." he said as he excused himself out of his office before anouncing "Next!"

Vetra felt anger like she hadn't in years. Not when she'd been cheated out of six months' worth of credits by a rival on Junavi III or when Sid had 'accidentally' broken an old lamp she had treasured since the early days when she had taken up construction jobs to make money for the both of them.

She hated him, she hated this human.

"Spirits, forgive me I'm going to hurt him. He healed Sid, but I'm going to beat him until he shits himself one day."

_'Healed'_

By his own admission, he'd given her an injection of something Sid could have just eaten trace amounts of for virtually the same effect.

"Next time, we're going to Kuov and damn whatever we need to do to get there."

Vetra took a moment to calm down before stepping out of the office. Striding back to room six and pointedly ignoring Sindri as he knelt by the two Asari at the reception. He asked in a genuinely dulcet tone "Myra and Gola what has happened, my friends?". There she faltered for an instant before recalling what he'd said in the office.

_"I think Turians are the most disgusting things ever to have walked creation."_

Now remembering his treatment of the Krogan and the Asari, his comment didn't come off as a dig just to get under her skin.

It was a statement of fact.

The hostility, the contempt, and the brazen insults were all because this two-faced asshole had a problem with her. Not because of anything she did but because of _what_ she was. But then why pretend for Sid's benefit? Why pretend to strike up a genuine friendship with her and not turn her away like she knew he wanted to? Straight into the snow and ice with no vehicle to Kuov. Why not hang up a sign saying "No Turians" or whatever other colorful expletives he could think of? Why go out of his way to bring her sister sweets, why stock dextro-compatible food if he hated them so much?

Vetra looked at her younger sister surrounded by Amanda and Mrs. Rivana, all smiles and trying out her new crutches. She mustered and smile and a thank you to them both before gesturing to Sid to come with her. The Asari followed them then got the door before stepping outside herself into the cold winter air and the dying light of Mirrard's gentle suns.

"Wait just a moment." squeaked Grin as she tried and failed to catch the door before it closed behind them with a dull thud.

Vetra looked at the Salarian as she exited the clinic, she suddenly felt very tired. "What can I help you with, Grin?"

"Nothing at all, it is, in fact, you who is in need of help; more specifically to be given your paperwork and additional information. It seems you forgot it at the Apothecary's office."

"Ah, thank you Grin. There's nothing important on there though, Mr. Bogatyr basically told me to keep her fed, watered and rested and the contents of the sugar water he injected her with she could have just eaten. Thanks anyway."

The Salarian cocked her head slightly to her side.

"Why would the Apothecary inject your sister with sugar water, the paper clearly states he gave her thirty milliliters of dextro-compatible-osteoblast stemcell-platelet-rich-plasma in a forty millimeter -"

"I'm sorry, he gave my sister what?"

"He gave her thirty milliliters of-"

"Grin I heard you, but I don't know what that stuff does."

The Salarian's head righted itself as she breathed then exhaled a puff of cold air.

"It heals. The osteoblast stem cells assist rapidly with bone repair and the platelet-rich plasma is key to the accelerated healing of torn flesh, ligaments and joints."

"And is that a common thing he hands out?"

Grin shook her head emphatically, "No ma'am. Not at all. Very rare, very expensive. Don't know how he got a hold of some."

Vetra turned fully towards the shivering Salarian.

"How much does that stuff cost, Grin?"

"In a capital world such as Palaven where they can presumably manufacture the substances, perhaps thirty thousand credits per treatment. Out here I would wager such medicinal substances would be worth four times the price perhaps? Adjusting for inflation."

Grin bowed her head and returned quickly indoors, unwilling to weather the cold any longer than a minute.

The older Turian stood frozen, blinking. A clap on the shoulder brought her back to reality.

"It is a blessing to have someone willing to do so much for our young. And for nothing too I bet. Not that that's unusual for him, that Sindri." said Mrs. Rivana.

Vetra looked again at the wooden doors and the sign above it.

_"The Apothecary"_

_"Did this asshole just spend one hundred and twenty thousand credits of specialized medicine just to heal my sister and say nothing?"_

_"Did he just tell me to get fucked?"_


	2. Dog Among Wolves

One month passed by in a fog as the temperature continued to drop. The sun was not out by the time Vetra walked Sid to her school and she back to Sapphire Salvage and Relics and it was gone before she could get her sister from class at the end of the day.

Vetra felt a sense of mild unease as she waited to see how quickly her sister had mended. She recalled the paperwork she'd received from Grin said she would be noticeably recovering with two months or so.

Almost complete functionality returned to Sid in three and a half weeks.

Seeing firsthand the effects of Sindri's cocktail had on her sister she began to research the exact medicines he had used on her whenever she had a moment at work. It turned out osteoblast stem cells in a ready-to-use universal form for anyone was a new-ish medical breakthrough on Palaven relatively speaking from at least fifteen years back as was the platelet-rich plasma in the same way. She hadn't found anything however on the various public information sources on Mirrard regarding anyone doing business with the big pharmaceutical companies on Palaven. What she did find was a multitude of articles about the dozen or so companies that collaborated on both substances among others to advance Turian medical science past what medigel could do. It was a dense but interesting read, what did catch her eye was that the medicine was as enormously expensive as Grin had guessed. It was the kind of medicine which would certainly have tremendous civilian application but because of its prohibitively high cost it was neither readily available nor easy to manufacture and as the article described it would be a therapy reserved for those who can pay for the single-dose most would typically need and those who required rapid healing and rehabilitation.

Digging a little deeper Vetra found something that intrigued her and set her on edge in equal measure.

These companies all had contracts with the Turian military.

Reading between the lines she furrowed her brow as she echoed Grin's comment about how could Sindri have gotten a hold of such a medicine.

_How did you get a hold of this stuff? Short of being rich, or a black-ops spook._

Vetra leaned back in her chair in the cold but brightly lit warehouse and she sighed watching her breath curl into steam.

"He's not an idiot." she reluctantly admitted to herself, more out of dislike for the man than any evidence to the contrary.

Vetra snapped back into her chair and wracked her brain wondering how to solve this riddle. it would be one thing if a black market existed on Grennik that she could access in order to build favors, gather influence and ask but as things stood she felt breaking the law would backfire on her instantaneously. And she was sure simply asking around would not produce forthcoming answers.

"It's not because of what you've done, but what you are." she reminded herself as a frown bent the corner of her mouth.

Looking at the clock again she gathered her house keys, awkward little shards of metal the humans used to open and lock doors, and left for the day to go get Sid.

"See you tomorrow, Nyx." blurted out one of the mechanics.

Vetra did a double-take as she passed the mechanics, all of which were looking at her now with reasonably pleasant smiles on their grimy faces.

"What?"

"I said; see you tomorrow."

She stopped and turned to them, it was the red-haired one who had said it. He was an older human with calloused hands, his name was William she remembered.

"No, I mean: why are you saying goodbye? You three haven't said anything to me in the months since I started working here."

With a shrug, William leaned back into the engine that was currently sitting in the assembly area.

"The season, you mean. You've been with us for a whole season. Seeing as you are probably sticking around we might as well talk to each other."

Vetra blinked at them thinking of what to say.

"Oh."

The humans laughed.

"We won't bite. Boss says you are reliable and we noticed you do good work, pretty handy with a blowtorch."

Shifting her weight and putting her hands on her hips in an effort to seem less unsure of herself Vetra thought for a moment about her concern with the acquisition of the mysterious medical stocks of the local clinic. She doubted the mechanics would know anything about it but it wouldn't be unreasonable to start asking questions in a roundabout way if only to get a feel for the place. Especially since the humans had started the interaction and on friendly terms at that.

"Do you guys mind if I ask you a question about Grennik?"

The mechanics looked at her expectantly but patiently waited for her query.

"I noticed that a lot of non-humans go to The Apothecary clinic. Why is that?"

William sucked his teeth and smiled.

"Well, Nyx. Don't be fooled, there were a lot of humans already settled on Mirrard and Grennik for that matter before you guys started to show up. And I mean aliens. Is that weird to say? Only a little over a decade ago we hadn't met the intergalactic community yet. But point is as far as I can tell the clinic is the only place here in Grennik where you guys can network and talk to each other-"

The old mechanic's eyes flickered to the engine to break eye contact with Vetra for a moment.

"And get medical attention."

"How do you mean network and talk?"

"Well, Grennik is mostly populated by people who are part of the Darskirr-"

Vetra glowered for a moment as she cupped her chin. She hadn't heard a peep from these people since she arrived, for a widespread cult it had been strange she thought that she hadn't met anyone who was part of it.

"Ah, the cult." she started.

William shook his head.

"Sort of. They aren't bad sorts if they accept you, really close-knit and clannish. Mercifully they are not proselytizers. But as I was saying, they own this town almost entirely and they don't much like non-humans but there is sort of an agreement in Grennik to leave them be. Because of that, most alien-folk feel most comfortable being themselves in The Apothecary rather than alone anywhere else."

At this Vetra stepped a bit closer as she hungrily listened to every word the mechanic was telling her.

"What's the agreement?"

"That if the non-humans behave themselves, respect the laws and pull their weight for the town then that they should be left in peace."

"Who wrote this agreement?"

The man chuckled.

"Written? The Darskirri people don't write anything down when their word matters more to them than their lives. No, the agreement was made amongst the Darskirr themselves and it happened before I came here, so I don't know who got the ball rolling on that. You should ask around if you really want to know."

"Who is part of the Darskirr that you know of?"

At this, the men looked at each other with a glint of consternation.

"They keep that to themselves but there are a few out and proud folks. Daven and his grease monkeys for one and the lady who owns the bakery down the street. Sindri Bogatyr himself, definitely-"

Vetra felt a flush of embarrassment after the mechanics grinned at her. She realized she made a face when she'd heard the Apothecary's name out loud.

"Sindri Bogatyr? He's one of them?"

"Yup."

"The _owner_ of the one clinic where non-humans go to socialize and receive medical attention is a public member of the human cult that hates non-humans."

"That's what I hear. Yes."

Vetra jingled her keys absentmindedly before uttering a chirpy "Oh."

She said her goodbyes to the trio of mechanics and stepped outside the warehouse, with a few quick wraps the fastened her navy blue scarf around her neck before stepping out into the cold and making her way to Sid's school.

The Turian smiled, she had something promising if William was to be believed. She wasn't sure what it all added up to yet but throughout the seemingly nonsensical mess of open secrets and agreements, somebody was up to something. And she was going to find out what and how, she determined. Seemingly unbidden the thought of her sister bubbled to the surface of her searching mind and she slowed her pace; asking too many questions could be dangerous she conceded before she could even ask herself what's the worst thing that could happen.

Irresistibly the names of the medicine and their planet of origin came to crowd the thought of her sister, then memories of how Sindri had treated her and then what he'd done for her Sid.

Frowning she cracked her knuckles as she began to recognize where the next patch of treacherous ice was on the sidewalk as she trudged out into the frigid early night. She understood that what she was doing was ill-advised considering she was effectively alone on an unfriendly planet. To know why any of these things were what they were was unnecessary. Her enthusiastic curiosity notwithstanding, Vetra understood that there was no sure reward to be gained, only potentially negative attention. But it's not as though she was not capable or in over her head. It is not as though she intended to find out who Sindri's supplier was, or maybe blackmail him if there was a lucrative opportunity to be had.

Probably.

How inappropriate really would it be to check in with The Apothecary clinic for some follow-up? Besides, Sid didn't need her crutches any longer.

_A few innocent questions won't hurt._

-0-

Sindri Bogatyr stretched his arms and legs as the fog of deep sleep refused to leave his limbs entirely. Alone at the dimly lit clinic he relished the time spent alone before the day began, he could begin the day at his pace and alone with his own thoughts for an allotted time before his patients or customers depending on their disposition on a given day began to roll in. Wordlessly he smiled as he reached at a small wooden box made of cedar foreign to this world and popped it open as he peered inside. A mess of orange-hued ash sat on the bottom of the box. Reaching in he dabbed a single finger before smearing just a thimble of it on his sternum inside his black uniform shirt.

Taking a deep breath he let the scent bring forth old memories; a sense of peace washed over him and he felt whole. The hole in his chest didn't ache as much and the bitterness that tingled the nerves in his lungs in perpetuity subsided. With each successive breath, Sindri felt himself grow lighter and lighter, closing his eyes he did not fight the tears that began to well in his eyes. He could almost feel the warmth of familiar voices and hear the bell-like quality of their laughter in his mind's eye.

A sharp knock on the door broke the thread he was rapidly unraveling as he dredged up a lifetime that he was having a harder and harder time recalling.

Opening his dark umber eyes he wiped away the excess as he looked at the heavy wooden doors of his clinic.

_Tomorrow, maybe._

The Apothecary took a quick moment to straighten out his uniform before raising his chin and assuming an air of professionalism, even if he was just expecting friendly company today it wouldn't do to be lax.

Opening the creaking doors Sindri looked outside and froze for a second as he was genuinely surprised.

"Hi Sindri!" beamed Sid as she lightly bounced on her feet while holding her older sister's hand.

Caught off guard he focused his attention on the younger Turian and coaxed the words out of his throat.

"Well this is a genuinely pleasant surprise! Hello, hello there, my friend!"

"Good morning, Mr. Bogatyr." intoned Vetra as she peered at him.

"Hello, Mrs. Nyx." replied the human as his eyes narrowed with spiteful pleasure.

Vetra noticed how instantaneously the air between them had assumed the same hostility it had when they had spoken last. Such a subtle needle was guaranteed to pass over her younger sister's head. Rather than correct him on her lack of a husband and rise to even address the intended insult that carried the implication of some unlovability on her part she chose to observe his behavior instead. She came with a mission and she wasn't going to rise to his bait.

"I got better!" chirped Sid happily as she began to let herself into the clinic, obviously fleeing the cold.

"I can see that, well done. Vee took good care of you didn't she?" he replied as he held the door for both Turians, one of which enthusiastically nodded her head and scooted backward as she got in the way.

Shutting the door behind him the human stood at attention and regarded both of the sisters amicably.

"So what can I do for you two, ladies?"

"Just a quick check-up. I've never seen a Turian mend so quickly so I wanted to make sure everything is above board."

The human gestured for both to go down the hall past Grin's desk.

"Room 6. I will be with you shortly." he smiled.

The two Turians began to head down the hall and the human turned away from them to walk to some unlabeled room across from his office. Vetra craned her head and as soon as he was fully committed to his path she whispered to Sid "Go ahead, Kiddo. I think Sindri might need some help with the equipment." before patting her sister on the small of her back and towards the appointed room. Turning on her heel she sped towards the unlabeled room.

For a moment her mind flashed images of stacks of rare medicinal vials across her consciousness as she turned the doorknob and let herself into the quiet room.

To her surprise, it was a tidy room with gurneys and linens and other unidentifiable equipment as well as the portable x-ray that had been put to use only a scant four weeks prior.

She stopped just inside and took in a measure of the room and its occupants without turning her head. The human nonchalantly turned his head as his hands stopped their work on priming the electronic device.

Again the air between them went stale with words unspoken and anger restrained on his part.

"Can I help you, Mrs. Nyx?"

Vetra took a step forward and he immediately turned. He stood straight and his hands were cupped on his sternum almost as if in an act of contrition.

"I was just wondering how you got so good at practicing medicine. I'm very impressed with how quickly Sid got better."

A smile like a serrated knife split the human's face.

"Really?" he replied with all the joviality of someone who knew he was being lied to.

Cursing herself internally, Vetra looked back at him trying to find a handhold or anything to gain control of the direction the conversation was taking. She could smell the suspicion coming off of him in waves, he knew she had ulterior motives.

"Ok, I'll fess up: why are you so kind to my sister and treat me like shit?"

At this, the black cloud over Sindri's head evaporated and the edge to the air between them vanished as quickly as it appeared. It was reassuring but the Turian kept in mind she and he were alone, so the likelihood he could reply with some kind of verbal barbarism was still very high.

At the very least, he subsumed the worst of his proclivities in front of her sister.

"I like children." he said simply.

Vetra took half a step forward before leaning against the door.

"But you don't like me. Why?"

Turning his head again and continuing whatever start-up protocols the x-ray required he flapped his wrist at her dismissively.

"I like you perfectly fine."

"Is insulting me and delighting in it, _liking _me?"

"I'll rephrase: I like you perfectly fine for one of your kind. Besides, I'm not bigoted. One of my newest friends is a Turian." he added with a smirk.

Vetra rolled her eyes.

"And why do yo-"

Catching herself before she finished the sentence she thought hard. She wasn't steering the conversation anymore. He was.

"Anyway, how did you get so good at medicine?"

"You want to finish that earlier thought?"

_Fuck..._

"I was about to ask you why you feel the need to treat me the way you do. But realize I don't really care."

With a singular chuckle the human unplugged the x-ray from its charging station.

"You don't care about what I think to the point you would follow me in here and go fishing for something? So tell me, Vetra Nyx. What are you searching for?"

"I'm not fishing for anything. I just wa-"

Sindri turned his head casually and looked through her with all the cheer of a graveyard.

"You are_ this _close to shitting the bed with me, Ms. Nyx."

Vetra stood silent as he turned the x-ray around and wheeled it towards the door and stopping within arm's reach of her.

"I don't expect you to tell me everything, that is not my business, but I take matters or personal honor and honesty with deadly seriousness. Do not lie to me. If you do, that's the end of our acquaintanceship and I will never entertain a conversation with you again. So think carefully before you answer me; what did you come here looking for?"

The Turian felt her words catch in her throat. Sindri's umber eyes were latched onto her's in an unwavering stare, through his relaxed lids she could see him very clearly assessing her every move, pause, twitch, and tone. As the moment stretched out it became clear he was comfortable with silence and would wait for her. Vetra felt a twang of dread at failing to take control of the situation and continue her investigation. But more pressing seemed the concern of losing the human's one opportunity to maintain a cordial speaking relationship.

When he said he'd never converse with her again, the threat seemed ironclad and real. Very as a matter of fact.

Taking a deep breath she exhaled and let go of the reigns she was fighting Sindri for. And instead feed him another very real and earnest question she had.

"I came to ask you if you know about a deal I heard about in Grennik."

"You want to know why the Darskirr have a standing verbal agreement to leave the non-humans alone."

_Damn it, was it written on my face? He's sharp, he knows I'm up to something_. she thought as she frowned with embarrassment.

"Yeah, I want to know how that came about and who made the agreement."

In an instant, Sindri's disposition was again cool and he blinked at her almost as though he was looking at her rather than through her.

"That is a family matter within our own people."

It was Vetra's turn to blink at him.

"What was it you just said about honesty?"

"I needn't spill my guts just because you asked. You are no friend to me nor do I have the full measure of your honor. Which seeing as you didn't finish boot-camp by your own admission speaks very poorly of you in matters of standing within your own people."

Vetra bristled at him.

"The only way I could trust you less is if you had no facial markings. Turians on Palaven call those folks, bare-faced, do they not?"

With a sigh, the Turian stepped aside and held the door open for him with her eyes downcast as he pushed the x-ray through. As he passed without looking at her, he delivered a light kick to her shin.

"And don't look so glum. I don't hate you and I think you are a respectable older sister."

Walking away without a backwards glance Sindri continued to push the device down the hall as the door creaked open and a Salarian voice greeted him.

"Hello, Mr. Bogatyr."

To which Sindri bent over in an elaborate bow before continuing.

"Oh! Do we have a new patient?"

"Nope. Turian female. Ten years old. Broke tibia and fibula in right leg four weeks ago. Room 6. Older sister is a pain in my ass."

"Ah, the Nyx sisters."

Sindri snapped his fingers in the gesture of a gun at Grin before continuing.

Vetra stared at him as he went, wondering if the prize of a score to smuggle for profit was worth the price of crossing such a man.

He was at the very least an honest man. And the trick with honest men was that it was the same as the trick with gullible men.

You had to earn their trust.

-0-

The Apothecary sat quietly on the busy street upon which it sat. The single, large window with stained glass glowed in kaleidoscopic patterns as the occupants of the clinic began to arrive in pairs and trios then in entire family units. As the morning began to give way to the afternoon food was laid out and tables were rearranged and a not-insignificant amount of pillows and warm blankets were brought out of their cubbies and closets.

Vetra had no intention of remaining past the check-up or the private discussion with Sindri but at some point he had vanished and a platter of food had been put in her hands by Amanda and she'd been given instructions as to where to place it. Pressganged into service she and Sid began to help with all the arrangements, opening the door every so often to be greeted with a smiling Salarian, Asari or Krogan face and a few humans too. To her surprise, everyone greeted one another as old friends and big spreads of food were laid out for anyone to pick at- in moderation- before the guests finally set themselves into their chosen places of comfort.

The two Turians stood awkwardly for a moment after everyone took their places. In her usual awkward gait Grin shuffled to them and pointed at the only unoccupied corner of the Apothecary's livingroom/lobby which was the corner which played host to a big love seat and a wooden table by which all manner of local flora sucked up the meager sunlight of Mirrard's gentle suns. Without offering an explanation or an opening for questions the Salarian walked away from them quickly towards the back of the lobby and into a door that she'd never seen before.

"Your food, Nyx sisters, shall be brought out to you shortly." she tossed at them before leaving earshot.

Sid beamed at her sister, not that she knew what this was about, and began to chat up the Salarian and Asari children that sat by her on cushions on the floor.

Amanda bounded into the loveseat and sat next to Vetra, lounging herself comfortably in more casual clothing as she turned to give the Turian her complete attention.

"So, you were convinced to come celebrate with us?"

"Celebrate what?"

"The Asari holiday! The S-Surr'hagnv-"

With a quick laugh, Mrs. Rivana interjected; "The Sur'Ha-Gunva."

"It is a holiday back home in Thessia. In short it is about communion with one's people. So we all gather here to chat, talk and eat. I lead a little prayer at the end of the night. You don't have to take part if you don't want to."

Vetra was about to ask more before a smell dumbstruck her and she stopped mid-thought.

Before she could summon the word for something she hadn't gotten to enjoy since she was a child Grin came into her line of sight and a multitude of hands moved plates noisily in order to make room for the dishes in her hands.

Salivating she couldn't believe what she was looking at.

Xillah meat, Caculo tubers, and Kulak soup.

"Enjoy" Grin said as she nodded to the two Turians.

Without thinking Vetra reached out to the soup as her sister leaned over to look at the food that was so suddenly grabbed her older sibling's interest.

"It's soup, Sid! Soup from home!" she said between quiet, short, moans of culinary delight.

"Ok." said Sid before continuing to chat with the two children by her.

So focused was she that she didn't notice as Sindri stepped by her with a soup mug full of spicy smelling tea and sat down in the sunspot by the window.

Grin stood up from her small chair and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. Her audience deferentially ceased all communication.

"Hello, I believe we have two new guests today; Sidera and Vetra Nyx. Please be sure to welcome them and make them feel at home. Moving on, we are here to celebrate the ancient Sur'Ha-Gunva ritual of communion. But considering we are not Asari and therefore mind-melding would be taxing, not to say invasive with our guests of Asari persuasion you are encouraged to talk and speak to one another. Enjoy the food."

The second Grin finished speaking she sat down in silence.

Smiling, the rest of the people present began to busily chat amongst themselves.

Vetra finished slurping down her soup a little too loudly before reaching over to snatch up a tuber with her fork.

"Like the food huh?" started Amanda as she plucked up a blue fruit reminiscent of a cherry with three heads.

"You have no idea, I'm sick of eating pre-packaged food. So is Sid."

The little Turian looked back at the adults and nodded before picking up the conversation with the Salarian child right back where she'd left it.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that every so often Sindri would look over at her with a placid, if gratified, look on his face.

She didn't like it.

"Anyway, who made this? It's amazing."

Amanda shrugged before popping another three-headed blue cherry in her mouth.

"Hey Grin." Vetra started.

The Salarian looked up at her from the drink she was nursing with a green silly straw.

"Who made this food? It is amazing and it is _real_ Turian food. I'm shocked to have the opportunity to have it again so far from Palaven."

Pointing at Sindri, Grin replied "Ask the chef."

With no small amount of surprise, Vetra looked at Sindri who sat wrapped in a grey shawl and clearly enjoying the sunlight.

"You? You made this?"

Taking a long sip of his tea Sindri winked at her.

"How did you get this stuff, to begin with?"

"Secrets, secrets." he replied with a smile.

Vetra looked back at the tubers and reached for another before popping it into her mouth.

"It is really well done." she said approvingly.

"Sindri really doesn't cook often except for special ocassions. I'm surprised he went so far as to make you and Sid dextro food. I didn't see any in the kitchen this morning."

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath Sindri sighed contentedly.

"We didn't have any. I drove home and got some."

"So that's where you vanished off to. Kind of a drive all the way out in the woods."

With a hand on his chest and a sneer of faux indignation Sindri scoffed.

"When have I ever not fed my guests?"

Amanda smirked. "If that's the case the steaks are not to my liking and I want some of that potato soup you made last year."

To her surprise he stood up and began to amble over to them before kneeling down by Sid and giving her a little squeeze on the shoulder.

"_You_, are not my guest Amanda and I already feed you enough you freeloader." to which the human laughed at Sindri.

Turning his head to Sid with her plate in his hands he offered it to her.

"Made it just for you. Try it before it gets cold."

Sid gingerly picked up a tuber and took a little nip, with a grimace she nodded.

"Maybe the soup then, the tubers are kind of bitter and sour aren't they?"

The little Turian took a spoonful then began to suck down the soup eagerly after a smile split her face.

Vetra continued to watch the exchange silently, she noticed he'd actually described the taste of the tubers accurately to her sister.

_He can eat dextro food without an allergic reaction._

Taking another long sip of his tea, Sindri returned to his sun-spot before closing his eyes once more and taking a deep breath as he tucked his nose close to his chest.

Vetra reached over and touched his knee for an instant to get his attention. At this Sindri opened his dark umber eyes and looked straight at her with a hardened gaze.

"Why did you go through the trouble of making this for us?"

With a shrug, Sindri closed his eyes again.

"As I said, I like Sid and I don't hate you."

Vetra did her best to smile as Amanda punched her arm.

"Look at you two making friends. I think he's starting to like you!"

To Vetra's surprise, Sindri didn't correct her.

_You just might come to hate me one day, Mr. Bogatyr._

Without another thought she turned away from the dozing human and towards Amanda as the young medical assistance began to unload her entire life's story on her and how she came to be on Mirrard.

-0-

The afternoon churned into early nightfall and the lights of the Apothecary warmed the now deserted street upon which it sat. Laughter could be heard inside and alien shapes and shadows played on its stained glass windows to anyone who passed by on its lonely road. The crowd inside shared stories and triumphs since last year's communion ritual, most of these were funny but many were of progress. The Asari families were growing and one had, in fact, bought their first property after the birth of a new daughter; the pair had decided to make their new home a business as well by converting the living room into an Asari clothing shop, given how both of them had been seamstresses before Mirrard.

Almost everyone present offered to help with construction.

The topic, however, was put to rest when Grin had absentmindedly opened her eyes and looked straight at Sindri.

"Your grandmother called this morning and asked me to ask you to call her back regarding your arranged marriage."

The silence of the room was deafening before exploding into jeers and questions which startled the human.

"You are getting married?! When were you going to tell us?"

Sindri spilled his tea on his lap before standing up and dabbing it with his shawl.

"I"m not, you idiots!" he snapped at them before grimacing at Grin.

"Did I do something wrong? I thought we were gathered for Sur'Ha-Gunva and this is certainly something that is share-worthy."

"No, Grin. Grandmother is pushing for something I have no interest in."

"So will you call her back?"

"Obviously. I'll tell her to cut the poor girl loose and let her marry another Darskirri man."

"I think this may cause friction within your family." said Grin in as a very matter of fact tone.

Sindri bundled up his shawl before tossing it into a corner by everyone's shoes.

"Like I haven't done so before." he said as he stepped towards the kitchen.

"This is true." began Grin as she took another long sip of her drink before looking at Vetra and Sid. "Excuse me, I don't think you have context for such a remark do you?"

Vetra shook her head as casually as she could manage knowing Grin was about to tell her something important. Perhaps even something Sindri was unwilling to share himself.

"Well you see, before the inception of The Apothecary as it currently exists, Sindri quarreled with his people over the patrons he'd allow to come to his clinic."

"Non-Humans." said Sid, as she peered towards Grin and around all the dishes and cups.

"Indeed, Ms. Nyx. Now, this news was not well received by the Darskirr and a council was convened because of Sindri's insistence on the matter which had infact resulted in more than one physical altercation between himself and other Darskirri men and one enormous woman. The majority of the Darskirr insisted that they would never abide Sindri's allowance of the rest of the intergalactic community into his clinic but his adamance in doing so and being willing to draw blood over it in fistfights with his kin put the community in a precarious position. I don't know what was said, nor has Sindri ever offered an explanation for his dogged resolve on the matter prior to Mr. Callux's murder or after, but after the council he lost almost all of his Darskirri clients. Now this place is only frequented by humans without prejudice towards us and the rest of the non-human members of Grennik's community."

At this Vetra did a double-take.

"Callux? That's a Turian surname."

"Indeed. He was on amicable terms with us and frequented the clinic every sunday for caffeine and dextro-foodstuffs."

"You said he was murdered. How did that happen?"

As Grin hesitated to answer, the Turian noticed how quiet the room had become.

"He was stabbed to death. The local authorities arrested Sindri for it, though he was cleared for lack of evidence."

Vetra's eyes widened.

"You said he was on amicable terms with you guys. Why did-"

"Sindri never told us what happened or how he was the first to find poor Callux. But he was a wreck for weeks afterward. He wouldn't talk and he could barely eat. Then one day he and all the other Darskirri people vanished for three days and then returned without explanation as if nothing had happened." interjected Amanda taking a sip from her cup.

"When he came back he was hard, cold and mean. It took me a few weeks to notice but all the other non-humans were being left alone and The Apothecary started to become the only place they could come to be friendly and talk to each other."

The Turian thought for a moment before thinking out loud; "The agreement to leave us alone is because of him."

The Krogan in the room nodded, "That's what we think."

"But why? Why did he go out of his way to protect us from his own people?"

"No one knows. He doesn't answer the question, no matter how much or for how long we ask him."

With a clatter from the kitchen the discussion was stopped as Sindri returned with a washed face and a water stain on his lap. Jingling his keys in his pocked he approached Mrs. Rivana and gave her a peck on the cheek and a hug.

"Happy Sur'Ha-Gunva, Ashoha Rivana."

"And you, Sindri Bogatyr."

With that Sindri swung his keys on his index finger and bid the rest of the people present goodbye, excusing himself and wishing them a lovely evening. Then he pointedly looked at Grin, asking her to lock up after all was said and done.

A soft thunk shut the door behind him as he disappeared into the night, his deep hood pulled up around his face as he trudged away.

"Where is he going?" asked Sid as she moved on to the rest of her food.

No one answered and no one wondered out loud.

-0-

Vetra Nyx stepped out into the cold after having taken Sid home and having tucked her in for the night. The winds were slow and the night was not as frigid as most had been that week, she needed time to think about what she'd learned at The Apothecary.

It struck her as absolutely insane that there were so many questions about the secretive Darskirr and the non-human community was simply willing to trust everything to Sindri.

But now at least she had a name she could dig information from.

Callux.

There was definitely something afoot in Grennik and Sindri was key to that. Perhaps if some evidence of wrongdoing was found regarding that Turian's murder connected to the man himself or the Darskirr perhaps they could be put away and removed from town? Then again, she wasn't a cop or particularly clean herself in terms of following the law. She'd have to tread carefully if she was going to take steps against the cult to get rid of it.

The Krogan's words did stick to the forefront of her mind. Why had Sindri brokered an agreement to leave the non-humans alone at his own expense against his own clan and people. Why did he defend them? And what did Callux have to do with it, if anything?

Who was Callux really? Did he have anything to do with Sindri's stocks of dextro-goods?

These were all questions that burned holes behind her eyes as she imagined all the possible answers. Continuing to walk down the street she found herself charting a nice little circuit from her place to The Apothecary, down to the local pub "Old Jinn" and back home. She continued the cycle several times as she arranged the chessboard carefully in her mind. First, she'd hack into the police database with her omnitool order to have a look at the public and not so public information. Then she'd act on whatever she found wether to press Sindri on information she could use against him or coax him to trust her if that was more beneficial. The matter of the expensive medicines still weighed on her. If she could find his stash then she could lift it, sell, then afford a better living situation for her and Sid.

Something like that would be hard to do but it could be done carefully. One big sale to a Turian client in the market for it in the city or perhaps a pharmaceutical company. She could undercut the market price in order to entice a buyer and unload it all in one big sale as to not leave a trail.

She was engrossed by all the details and possibilities of the plan, so much so that as she left the perimeter of the bar she didn't notice four people following her.

Vetra rubbed herself as the chill eventually began to seep into her boots as she crossed the street and turned away from her house and towards The Apothecary. She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath as she looked up to the night sky and Mirrard's giant moon.

_Maybe this will actually work_

"Excuse us, miss."

The Turian turned to see four human men with their hoods up and their hands in their pockets.

"We saw you have been running a few circles around the town and we were wondering if you were lost."

Vetra stood tall and put her hands on her hips in an effort not to seem timid. She could smell the liquor on their breath as the wind picked up towards her.

"I'm not lost, thank you."

The foremost of their number stood forward. Pullin down his hood and revealing a mess of curly black hair and bright green eyes. With a smile he crossed his arms and gave her an appraising look.

"You sure? Because you've been casing my cousin's clinic for an hour now."

Vetra felt the dagger in his comment as the other men smiled at her and stood perfectly still. Though amicable in appearance she could feel the tension in the air.

"Who is your cousin?"

The man spat at the ground with a sneering grin.

"Sindri's his name."

With a sigh of relief, the Turian put on her brightest smile and lightened her tone as she took a step forward.

"Oh! I know Sindri, he's my friend."

At this, the humans laughed. "Oh really? Shit, he's down at the pub with the rest of us. Why not join us? It'd be funny to see him react when we drag his friend down there while he's so sauced."

Vetra didn't like the tiny inflection the man had in his voice as he said the word drag.

"Besides, I know how much Sindri gets a kick out of Turians. C'mon, first round's on us, pub is just down the street." said one man as the leader stepped forward with an outstretched hand.

"Sorry about all this, we really did think you were going to break into Sindri's clinic. He worked so hard for it, it'd be a shame for him to see it damaged. My name is James."

Suspicion boiled in Vetra's gut like a churning wound. But at the same time, when else could she find a better opportunity to fleece answers and information out of Sindri than at a public place after being invited by his well-meaning cousin. Especially if he was an inebriated as his kin claimed.

Shaking his hand she replied, "Ok, I'll go with you. The pub is Old Jinn right?"

"The one and the same, oh he'll be so excited to see you. We're all going to have fun."

Following the humans who began to walk ahead of her Vetra dearly wished she had her gun. But she was strong, four drunkards didn't overly concern her.

-0-

Winding down the street towards the bar Vetra noted the number of looks she was getting from other humans as she was led into Old Jinn. The place was crowded and reeked of spilled ale and other alcohol but she paid it no mind. Towering over the glowering men and sneering women who formed the patrons of the pub she followed James in and the crowds parted before her as he directed his group towards a corner booth of the establishment. She was studiously avoided by the patrons she imagined by more of a desire to not accidentally touch her rather than deference.

"And there he is!" exclaimed James as he slung his arm around Vetra and pointed at Sindri who sat quietly between several other humans who looked to be related to him and more than a few that did not.

Taking a moment to read the room she noticed that a raven-haired young woman had her arm on Sindri's leg and his confederates were smiling and speaking a little too loudly as to hear one another over the din of conversation in the pub.

"And then I says-" the tallest member of the table looked at James and Vetra and shot her a look of tense embarrassment.

"James, what the fuck are you playing at. Did you find this skull-face in the dump?"

Vetra felt anger simmer in her throat but kept it from showing on her face, so aware was she of what species she was surrounded by. She looked to Sindri for a reaction but all he did was sling his arm over his companion and take a sip of the alcohol in his hands.

He looked at her like an insect much to the approval of the woman next to him.

Pulling up a chair for Vetra in which she sat all the men save Sindri who remained demure put their hands up or clattered their drinks back onto the table as they exhaled or looked away.

"Did we invite you to bring this bitch to our table?"

James laughed, "Oh don't be like that. She's Sindri's friend."

All eyes at the table and at the immediate surrounding turned to Sindri. The woman next to him gave him a look and put her hand on his chest in concern.

"Friend is a very strong word."

"What the fuck would you call her then?" asked the taller man.

Sindri sniffed and eased into his seat while making unbroken eye contact with her.

"A miserable pile of nothing."

This drew approving smirks from the rest of the group.

"Take her back outside where you found her James. I've had a long day and I don't have any desire to be around a skull-face anymore than I have to."

Clapping Vetra's shoulders and smiling at his cousin he continued.

"But she looked so lost and her claim seemed so sincere. It's good to be with friends isn't it? Instead of asking; why have you come? Why don't you offer her a drink?"

Wordlessly Sindri emptied his glass and squeezed out of the booth.

Vetra sat silently, very aware and very much regretting having come to the pub with James. The offer was not made in even the most remote goodwill and there was some communication happening between the lines that she was not privy to. But she feared what would happen if she stood to leave before she was allowed to go.

"So, how did you come to meet Sindri?" asked the tall man as he finally deigned to address her directly.

The Turian thought for a moment, unsure of what was the correct answer.

"He healed my little sister."

"Oh did he?" the man replied as more than one venemous look was shot Sindri's way as he held out an empty stein which was being quickly filled. Even as he was in earshot he didn't react.

"So I take you two are friends then huh?"

Vetra dared not look at the Apothecary for a hint or direction but instead latched onto the one positive life-line she had available.

"I think so, he's been challenging at times but he has done me and my sister a few great favors, you see." she replied evenly as Sindri walked over with a small smile on his face and half-closed eyes.

She felt a sudden moisture and flinched as the human began to pour the beer on her head, drenching her clothes. At this, the rest of the pub gasped and began to laugh at her. The table grinned and let out short barks of laughter. Stealing a glance at Sindri she could see he was smiling with his eyes.

Standing up, Sindri slapped her across the face and kicked out a leg from under her.

"Sit!" he instructed, like she was a dog. She fell onto her rear and stayed still, the presence of so many humans stifling the rage inside her which she dared not act on.

The rest of the pub looked on with the occasional vulgar expletive at the raw entertainment being put on display.

"Listen to me, you disgusting, _ugly_ fucking thing. And don't you dare look me in the eye."

Vetra stayed still as the last of the beer was shaken out of the stein. With a clack, it was set on the table, before more laughter erupted as Sindri began to pour out another on her head.

"I don't want to hear the phrase _Sindri is my friend_ to ever come out of your cunt mouth again." he said as he finished the second stein then walked over leisurely and took a stein from another patron. Taking a sip and handing it back he said: "Nope, that'd be wasted on the likes of her."

Another patron produced a glass and he took it and began pouring it on her head.

"I don't want to see you, or your slow sister ever again. I took her in to fix her leg that her dumb ass broke while climbing a tree in the middle of winter of all things and I regret it. The clinic smells like shit on the count of you two. Nor am I interested in serving either of you again, you fucking failure of a parent."

Another stein emptied and Vetra felt her rage fading and being replaced with something else. Tears began to well in her eyes as she grappled with her own impotence at what was being done to her.

"No wonder it's just the two of you on Mirrard. Who could love either of you urchins if your parents could not?"

"My-"

With a kick to her thigh, Sindri silenced Vetra as he reached for another stein.

"You aren't going to say shit. You aren't going to do shit. You are just shit."

Sindri began to pour again and remained silent as the stein slowly emptied on her, dragging out the affront.

The bar stood in silent amusement until a sob broke the quiet.

Vetra slowly stood up and covered her face away from him.

"Get out, and don't come back." said Sindri with a flip of his wrist and clapping the offered hand of one of his kin.

The Turian turned around and began to walk away as shame burned holes in her chest, she tried in vain to stifle another sob as it wracked her way out of her chest. She wanted to be angry but all she could muster were tears from her humiliation. She hated Sindri and these humans. But she couldn't fight them all. And she had nothing she could say back to them. She and Sid were alone. Vetra struggled every day to provide for and to help her sister. For all of its viciousness, there was a ring of truth to what Sindri had said. Even if he didn't know the reasons for their being alone.

She wanted to hurt Sindri, to take a dig at him that would cut him to the bone but she had nothing. His whole family hated non-humans and she knew nothing of his failures or insecurities. Indignation burned in her lungs like fire as she stood to her full height.

"You the biggest shit in all of Mirrard." she started.

The pub again fell silent and all eyes fell on Sindri who didn't even look back at her.

"You are the nothing but a two-faced, cowardly liar. And the worst human being in all of Grennik."

"I told you to get out, Skull-Face." hissed back Sindri with a venemous scowl.

An ounce of defensiveness from was all Vetra needed to explode.

"You are the most pathetic person I have ever met! You are too much of a chickenshit to admit who you like and who you don't to the people around you because you are afraid of what they'll think!"

"Bitch, you better walk away before you lose a few fingers. Not that you can afford it."

"How ugly are you? How fucking terrible are you to feign friendship with a ten year old girl and humiliate her older sister just because you can get away with it? What did I or Sid ever do to you?!" yelled Vetra as she drew her elbows back.

"I said, get out!" started Sindri as he stepped forward to her challenge.

"Or what Bogatyr?" she said, not budging an inch.

"You are going to hit me? Huh? Are you going to orphan Sid and kill me like you did Callux?"

The mask slipped and Sindri's eyes opened wide in shock.

"You are just an animal! You have no soul, you don't love anyone and you wouldn't dare hit me. You piece of shit, Darskirri, pink-skin!"

Sindri's face contorted in shame for a second before anger overtook it and he wound his arm to slap her again.

He didn't get the chance and Vetra punched him in the face putting all her weight behind it knocking him down to the ground in a loud crash. A table scrapped the floor as half a dozen humans got up.

"You just made the biggest, last mistake of your life you Turian bitch." said the tall man as he pulled out a revolver from his coat.

Vetra's blood froze for a moment as her awareness and all her pain vanished.

_Oh, spirits. Why did I do that? I should have just left._

As the hammer of the revolver clicked backwards the Turian's mind went to her younger sister. How foolish she had been to have gone for a walk that night, to have trusted the humans and ever met Sindri Bogatyr.

"No!"

Vetra snapped her head towards Sindri as he sprung from the ground, grabbed her head and her chest and embraced both to his own.

Frozen with a grimace of very real fear he held her there even as she pushed him away.

A pregnant quiet stretched on as Vetra realized Sindri was interposing his body between her and his kin's gun. Paralyzed by confusion and very real dread the Turian let Sindri hold onto her. She could feel his heart thundering in his chest.

"I'm not letting you hurt Vetra. Put the gun down and I'll send her away."

The Turian risked a glance over Sindri's shoulder as his kin approached.

"I cannot fucking believe you, Sindri." he began with a very real look of barely restrained anger on his face.

Vetra almost fell as the human herded her into the wall behind both of them and away from the crowd as he began to angle a backward shuffle into the back entrance of the pub. He turned on his heel to face the crowd even as he continued his withdrawal. The gun was very close to him now.

"After everything, _her kind_ has done you-"

"You will not utter another word!" screamed Sindri, at a volume and ferocity that it even made the gunman jump. Vetra despite being taller, felt very vulnerable behind the human that held an entire hostile crowd at bay.

"You will not utter another word, Nikita. Vetra Nyx and her sister are to be left alone. They are off limits."

James stepped out of the crowd with a switchblade as he locked eyes with Vetra and with a snap of his arm Sindri grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it, holding it out like a blade he snarled at his kin.

"You are about to swallow a lot of teeth and a lot of blood if you take another step, James."

The Turian couldn't see the human's face but whatever it was was enough to make his cousin stop in his tracks.

"She is off limits. You will not harm her, nor offer insult nor make mischief for her. Do you understand me?"

The raven haired young woman from the crowd forced her way to the front and towards him, she stepped very close to his outstretched hand and his glassy weapon holding her own arms behind her back.

"Sindri, come back. She is _just_ a Turian."

Silence again stretched out for a moment too long before Vetra gently pushed Sindri forward as to open the door she could only pull ajar.

"Are you really going to raise a hand against your own people just to protect one of _them_?"

Vetra pulled on Sindri's belt as he let her guide him back into the kitchen with the many frightened chefs inside.

The young woman choked for a moment as she whispered "Sindri."

"Off limits. Or grandmother will have your hides." he concluded as he slipped into the kitchen and latched onto Vetra's hand and led her out the back and into the frigid darkness.

Wondering how things had changed so quickly from that of an adversary to an ally Vetra let Sindri run and bring her to his vehicle. He ushered her in and drove off into the night.

In the opposite way Vetra's home was.

"Wait, where are you taking me?"

"I'm taking you home."

"Home is back into town, I have to go home to Sid!" she started, feeling the anger and the humiliation mix with a resented sense of gratitude in her chest.

"I cannot take you home. They might follow us."

Vetra screamed and punched the dash of his car hard enough to make the car move.

"Take me home you, pink-skin piece of shit!"

"No! You skull-faced idiot, my family might follow us and learn where Sid lives!"

The Turian looked outside as the lights of the pub and the streets of Grennik quickly faded into dots amidst the whiteout of the snow and the shadows of the woods. Terror gripped her heart as the avalanche of emotions of a night spent out of control and in the hands of others crushed her composure. Quickly she considered if jumping out of the vehicle at this speed would injure her.

Then she felt it. Her punch had opened the drawer underneath the dashboard and sitting on her foot was an Avex Mark II pistol.

She picked it up, turned off the safety and pressed it against Sindri's cheek.

"Take me home now, or I'll kill you!"

Sindri said nothing, nor did he look at her.

He simply began to slow the vehicle to a stop in the middle of the bridge that separated the road to Grennik and the wilderness beyond.

Turning his head towards Vetra he gently grabbed the gun and moved it in between his eyes.

Reaching over slowly he pressed his own hand into her chest atop her heart.

"I will kill you, I mean it! Take me home now!"

"I am trying to help you. Trust me."

Vetra began to sob again.

"No! You are trying to hurt me and you are going to hurt Sid. Either take me home or I'm going to-"

With a gentle pull that Vetra slapped away, he reached for her right hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked, more confused than anything.

Reaching again Sindri grabbed her hand and caressed the back of it reassuringly with his thumb before placing it on his own chest atop his heart. His left hand held her's there as his right hand continued to feel her heart.

"I swear on my name and all of the gods, I mean you and your sister no harm. I only want to save you both."

The Turian could feel the anguish in his voice. Withdrawing the gun she opened her eyes wider as he quickly placed it back on his forehead as his glassy eyes bored into hers in the dim light on his vehicle.

"If you truly believe I mean to do either of you harm, if you truly believe that seeing me dead will put things to right, then pull the trigger. I will not stop you."

Sitting in his eyes was that same ineffable thing she'd seen one month ago.

Guilt.

With a shaky breath, she put the gun down between her legs as she clicked the safety back on.

Sindri wiped his eyes and his face calmed as his gaze hardened and his mask was put back on.

"I am taking you home. I'll answer your questions there, but I will not chance us being followed and endanger your sister." he said.

Without further comment he began to drive into the dark woods, turning here and thereby hidden signs only he could detect.

Vetra felt drained and conflicted but as she slumped into her seat she began to think back on all of her days spent smuggling. All the close calls and actual shoot outs. Nothing had been quite as frightening as what had just happened. It was all business, simple numbers and interests when she'd been breaking the law and pissing off all the wrong people. But the exchanges at the pub had been deeply personal.

She wondered why it had affected her so as the vehicle pulled up to an archaic-looking structure with a lot of foliage around it and some of it now dead and frozen growing from the conical roof.

As Sindri grabbed her hand and led her out of the car and into the warmth of a dark and empty house she realized it was because Sindri was easy to like.

And very easy to hate.


	3. A Future Lost

Vetra shivered uncontrollably as she stood in what she presumed was the living room of Sindri's hidden home. As he turned on more and more lights, she realized that the layout of the home was awkward and not at all constructed for comfort or ease of traffic. She held herself as Sindri came rushing to her with several large towels and began to wrap her in them, with surprising tenderness and haste he began to squeeze most of the spilled beer out of her clothing.

Within her blank mind the Turian thoughtlessly observed his expression as he spoke under his breath offering reassurances of warmth and reminding himself of which limbs felt least heavy with accumulated alcohol.

"Vetra, I set out some spare clothes I think will fit you in the bathroom. There are towels and the like for you to shower and get your body temperature up before you get sick. Please go, I'll show you where."

Again, he gently grabbed her hand and led towards the bathroom. Showing her in, he also produced a spare toothbrush out from the space behind the modest vanity mirror in the room and turning the knobs for the showerhead to turn on the hot water he excused himself out with no small amount of red embarrassment before calling out from behind the shut door to yell if she had need of him.

Alone in the bathroom, Vetra peered in the mirror after what felt like after a beating. Her eye sockets were dark with her kind's sign for having cried recently, her mandibles vibrated every so often with distress and the inside of her lips and tongue were a dark blue denoting upset and an elevated heart rate. She stood stock still looking at herself for long minutes as the room began to fill with steam. As her reflection fogged, her shivers began to leave her and the hot water running next to her seemed so inviting. To her unemotional surprise, she felt safe.

Genuinely safe.

As the warmth began to leech back into her bones, she thought hard on the events of the night and she grimaced.

Sindri had struck her across the face and humiliated her in front of a pub full of people.

And his family moved to kill her. But despite this and the terrible insult he had given her, he put himself between her and a murderous gang of kin and friends of his in order to protect her.

Anger sat in her stomach like a hot coal, balanced by the clarity of the memory of how he'd placed his hand on her heart and told her to kill him if she thought he meant her or Sid any harm.

At that moment he'd looked guilty.

Very guilty.

_But of what?_

She believed him however when he told her he wanted to rescue them both.

Regaining her composure with the rising temperature she peeled out of her soaked clothing and stepped into the shower almost crying out in relief as the scalding water hit her frozen face and washed down her icy back.

_Spirits damn it, Mirrard is cold!_

-0-

Sindri pulled the wrinkles out of the sheet he laid out on the couch of his awkward living room for the tenth time in ten minutes as he kept an ear listening to the hissing showerhead just a little ways down. His mind was latched onto the job in front of him like a starving beast on a meaty morsel. It was all he could do instead of think about what had just happened at the pub. But despite his best attempts, anxiety made his movements shaky.

"Gods, what have I done?" he sighed out loud as he held his head in his hands.

His mind went to Nikita's face and to James'. They were angry and he knew they wouldn't let this go, not after he'd sprung to protect Vetra.

_Vetra_

Wincing in pain, he recalled how he'd slapped her and shamed her in front of his own. Self-disgust welled up from his guts and competed with the inherent viciousness he held towards Turians over how he should feel about what he'd done.

Quickly he began to formulate an apology, an explanation to smooth things over but he felt he'd crossed a line he couldn't come back from.

He knew, he wouldn't forgive himself if he were in her position.

But that really was the least of it, he realized. So much was uncertain and the lives of the two Turians hung by edge of a knife for death by his kin could so easily find them.

It would find them if he let it. Or if they let it.

Rubbing his chest for a shallow ache in his heart, he closed his eyes shut wondering how he could get Vetra to trust him enough and long enough for him to save her and little Sid. He wasn't sure how he'd go about doing it but he feared the cost could be more than he could bear.

With a start, he noticed that the shower was silent. Looking back he noticed Vetra, awkwardly fitted into his spare clothing which was about half a foot too small for her at each limb or across her midriff depending on what she tugged. Evenly she looked at him in silence, he returned her gaze and stood to his full height letting his sense of professionalism as a good host guide his tone and his gestures.

"Vetra, I hope the shower and dry clothing helped. I've arranged a bed for you." he said gesturing to the couch behind him.

The Turian continued to stare at him and said nothing.

"Ah!" he exclaimed as he went to the nearby kitchen and emerged with a steaming cup of hot dextro-compatible chocolate.

Before offering it, he held it close to his chest and looked into her eyes.

"If you promise not to splash it on my face, I'll give you something good to drink."

"It'd be just about fair for me to do so, wouldn't it?" she started with a sneer.

He could hear the tremble of a growl in her voice.

_She is probably pissed._

"It would, but I'd like to feed you regardless with perhaps a guarantee that you won't stain my carpet. Or burn my face. You are my guest after all."

"Don't you mock me." she replied standing to her full height and stepping closer to him.

_Oh shit, she is definitely pissed._

"Please have a seat, promise me you won't throw this at my head and I will answer any questions you have."

Vetra didn't move and neither did he.

"Please." Sindri gestured to the couch.

Sidestepping the human she towered over, Vetra hesitantly sat on the couch and sunk into its sheets. Sindri grabbed the edge of a thick blanket he'd brought for her and set aside. With a practiced flick he draped it over her legs and waist. Giving her a clear, meaningful look he slowly offered her the hot, steaming drink. Vetra took it, to his surprise and cupped it in both her hands as Sindri kneeled by the couch but within arm's reach of her to be at slightly lower than eye level with her.

"So I meant to-"

Vetra's hand clapped him across the face hard enough to know him off balance and onto his side.

"That's for slapping me." she said as her eyes lanced into his as his own hand came to his aching cheek.

Closing his eyes Sindri took a deep breath and to her surprise he smiled.

"Fair." he said to her.

"Were I in your shoes, I would have done the same."

Vetra narrowed her eyes at him as she took a slow, skeptical sip of the drink in her hands.

"What?"

Sindri righted himself and looked at her anew.

"What do you mean, if I were in your shoes?"

"Oh, it is a human idiom. It is for expressing that if I were in your position, I would do as you have."

Venomously the Turian glared at him. "Don't pretend you care about the position I am in. Or how I feel." she began with a hiss before slapping her own leg in frustration rather than the human in front of her.

"You _hit_ me. You _humiliated_ me. I thought you weren't rotten all the way through and I was wrong, you really are the worst piece of shit I've ever met in all my years of smuggling with murderers, pirates and worse."

Sindri sat back on his bottom and remained silent.

"I meant every word I said at the pub. You have no soul and you are just an animal. You are not my friend, you are not Sid's friend and we will never be friends. I will never trust you again you lying, evil, pink-skin psychopath."

Relief washed over Sindri's face like a sudden rain, a polite smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and he nodded emphatically. With a deep breath he let go of the reigns of the conversation which Vetra had undeniably taken from him.

"Understood, Ms. Nyx."

With a scoff Vetra leaned back into the sofa and took another sip.

"You don't give a shit what I think, do you?"

Sindri's face contorted into a smirk for an instant before he shut his eyes and rubbed his face as if to wipe it away.

"Does it matter if I do? Your mind is made up, and I am a beast to be handled carefully; but I do keep my word and I meant what I said. I want to save you and Sid."

Vetra cocked her head to the side and began to read him carefully.

"Why?"

"Spite for my family? To shame you for doubting me? Take your pick."

Sindri rocked back at the volume at which the Turian laughed at him.

"You brat! Did I bruise one of your delicate petals? I've heard similar petulance out of Sid when I've grounded her. Are you seriously upset that I told you I don't want to be your friend anymore?"

The human raised his chin and leaned back onto his elbows, drawing out his legs comfortably and crossing them.

"Relieved perhaps. As I said: I don't hate you and you are a respectable older sister."

"Flattery won't make me forgive you, nor will self-deprecation."

"I know. As I said, all I want is to make sure you and Sid are left in peace."

Gulping down the rest of her chocolate Vetra tossed the cup a little too high and clipped Sindri's chin before he could catch it. Without reaction or chastisement, he wiped his chin and looked into the cup for clumped powder.

"Why do you pink-skins hate Turians anyway?" asked Vetra as she rubbed her hands for warmth.

"Because your people slaughtered ours."

At this, the Turian looked at Sindri. His claim was clean and just so, as though he was remarking on the state of the weather.

"Do you recall the Relay 314 incident, as your people call it? Well, we call it the First Contact War."

Vetra swallowed for a moment unsure of herself, her anger began to die down in her belly.

"Now, the Darskirr are seeded across many worlds and while the fiercest fighting took place on Shanxi, my particular clan and people lived on a moon called Dubek by a massive gas giant called Upsilon M.2222 which played host to an equally expansive xenon refinery."

Sindri continued to stare at Vetra, no wince or grimace played across his face as he took a deep breath and continued.

"Now, Dubek had very little other than our villages and one gigantic space elevator up to the docks where the gas miners then went to Upsilon. And this not only meant we were unprepared for the Turians when they first landed after taking the docking station in orbit, but we were also unprepared when they came down and secured the space elevator and its ground facility. You see, they came in guns blazing with no explanation nor desire to speak to us, so when we retaliated the platoon received orders to advance and destroy our villages and our farms in an effort to break our spirits."

The Turian's blue eyes followed Sindri as he went to the kitchen and poured himself a drink.

"It didn't."

"No, it did not. So we fought them with guerrilla tactics. It was only an adjustment from the ferocious game we used to hunting, the only real difference now was that our prey could shoot back."

He returned and sat on the ground as he took a long sip. Vetra wondered what kind of alcohol he was imbibing and so rapidly. Unbidden the answers he'd given to Sid when they had first met resurfaced with a darker meaning.

"We fought for the length of the war and a few months after until the Turians had finally been vanquished and the platoon that held Dubek was ordered to withdraw and quit the mining installation."

"And your family?"

Sindri looked at her.

"Dead to the last. Only I remain."

Suddenly Vetra felt a brief pang of remorse for what she had said, but only just a flash of it. It made sense now. All the hard looks from the humans, the Darskirr, all of these people were veterans or survivors from the Turian offensive half a generation ago. And sitting before her was the last vestige of a clan of villagers whose name and memories only Sindri carried.

"If what you are telling me is true, then why are you helping my sister and I? Why are you helping the non-humans of Grennik? Why did you push your people to agree to leave us be?"

The man blushed slightly and he averted his eyes for a moment before looking at her.

"Because I don't want to see Sid hurt."

Vetra smiled earnestly.

"But since you've made it clear we will never be friends and I can certainly respect that, I'll settle for saving you from my less forgiving kin."

"You aren't concerned over Grin and the others?"

"They are not Turians, nor the source of my people's anger. They will never be accepted, but they won't be harmed."

"Does Callux have something to do with it?"

An anguished look came upon Sindri's face as he finished draining his glass. He then paused, frowning with a sour memory.

"Callux was my dearest friend."

"Did you kill him?"

He stood up. To Vetra's eyes he suddenly looked very tired, the dark circles under his eyes looked deep.

"What happened that night is my shame, and mine to bear. And this secret shall not part my lips, Vetra Nyx." he answered as he walked down the narrow hall and away from her.

"Hey! We are not done talking!" the Turian called out as she sprung to her feet and followed him.

"Oh but I am, quite done in fact."

"How are you going to save Sid and me?"

Sindri stopped in front of a plain white door. With his hand around the doorknob he lightly knocked his forehead into the door's wooden body with a light thump. Turning around he leaned on it as he gazed back at Vetra with resignation.

"I need to speak to Grandmother. She is one of the three Elders on Mirrard, if anyone can hand down judgment on what happened and order Nikita and James to respect my agreement it will be her."

"When are you going to do this?"

"Tomorrow."

"And how long until we're safe."

"I do not know."

"How can you find out?"

"Vetra." Sindri warned.

"I am tired. My eye hurts and I want to go to bed. You've too many questions for someone who trusts I intend to do as I've said. We will speak in the morning, goodnight."

Sindri shut the door behind him and all was silent. Vetra reached for the doorknob but hesitated. Was this his room? Realizing she didn't care she opened his door.

She froze as Sindri finished pulling his long-sleeved shirt over and off his head. His back was covered in old scars and lacerations which had long since healed, a couple of burns and gunshot entry or exit wounds dotted his abdomen and shoulder. Turning to her Sindri gave her the same empty look he had when they had first met, he didn't see her but through her. Vetra knew he wasn't seeing her as a person but as a Turian intruding in his space. Her eyes flickered involuntarily to his chest and arms; a picture of human fitness pocked marked by less than a year of Turian warfare with all of its deadly efficiency brought to bear without yielding fruit.

Sindri stepped forward, his muscles tense and placed his hand on her chest and with a light but firm touch pushed her back out of his room.

Before the hollow-eyed man finished moving her out and shutting the door her eyes glanced at the one piece of glass that reflected light from the hallway bulbs.

A picture frame that sat on his desk.

The warm smiles of an umber eyed man and woman with their six children looked back at her.

The eldest of which had a very familiar, smug grin on his face as he carried a younger sibling on his shoulders.

-0-

Sindri lowered the collar of his peacoat as he stood in front of Vetra's door in her modest living habitation block for other non-humans coming to settle in Grennik. The halogen lights above him hummed like fat bloated flies. Drawing a shallow breath the man forced a gentle smile on his face and he slipped her keys into the lock and let himself in.

The room in front of him was modest and pre-fabricated for utility and not comfort. No pictures were hung and no baubles sat on the shelves save for a few untouched books, the spines of which read; "Life on Mirrard", "The Lonely Planet of the Uldin Sytem: A Brief History". Sindri stepped in and dropped two large duffle bags on the ground. Checking the time on his outdated metal watch he frowned.

It was barely five in the morning and the odds of anyone being awake in the hab-block or around town was low. Especially on the weekend after a late night bender at Old Jinn.

But he wanted this done quietly and surreptitiously. His heart hammered in his chest, his eyes were very aware of movement and his ears of every creak or hum of the space around him.

_Quickly then._

Stepping forward he proceeded to what seemed like the first of three doors that could be a room. Opening it quietly he saw it was empty save for a single box of junk, a shattered lamp of a naked Asari peeked out of it. Her broken face looking out at him with one eye. Moving on, Sindri reached for the next door and opened it quietly. In it was a modest bed and wrapped in blankets was a small Turian, snoring lightly. Biting his lip in an effort to wipe the frown that had reasserted itself he stepped forward to wake her.

He stopped midway as he winced.

_Was Sid a light sleeper? Or a heavy one? Would she scream or be scared?_

Taking one look at his army peacoat and black pants and boots, not to mention suddenly very aware of the longknife strapped to his waist he realized he was not the picture of inviting help.

Reaching over quietly he placed a single hand on Sid's shoulder and rubbed her arm gently, rubbing it with his thumb every few seconds.

_Please, for the love of the Gods, do not scream._

With a light whimper as Sid's legs stretched under the covers a three-fingered hand rubbed at sleepy eyes before rolling back into the sheets without so much as opening or looking the other person in the room. But the arm remained in his grip, clearly, the recipient was enjoying the caresses.

"Sid."

With another rub across the eyes, Sid sat up and looked at him.

"Oh hi, Sindri." she said with a little smile, realizing her friend was here she rapidly seemed more and more awake.

"Did you come to play with me and Vee? What happened to your face?"

Channeling the tone of an older sibling he patted her head gently and made a mental note to look into a mirror before he left.

"May I sit?" he asked as he gestured to her bed.

Wordlessly Sid crossed her legs and scooted back to make room for him as he tightened his coat around himself and sat.

"Not today, I'm afraid. And I do have some bad news."

Sid frowned, "Is Vee in trouble?"

With a frown to match her own Sindri began to think rapidly as to how to spin a good yarn that she could understand for the sake of time and cooperation.

"Yeah, and so are you. But I'm in the biggest trouble."

"What did we do? Who is angry at us? Did someone hit you in the face?"

"Well, my young friend. I have some pretty rotten family in places and Vee wanted to spend time with me last night at the pub. Thing is, the rotten ones don't like Turians because many years ago before you were born, we all fought. And they are still mad."

"Did you fight too?"

Taken aback for a moment, Sindri paused.

"I would never lie to you. You know that, don't you?"

"Everyone lies sometimes, Sister says."

"Well I don't, the most I'd ever do is trick you. But I won't lie to you. Which is why I'll tell you; I fought."

"Are you still mad?"

"Sort of. But we're friends and I want to protect you and Vee from the rotten ones. So I'm inviting you and Vetra to come live with me until I can solve this."

"Oh! Like a sleepover? Did you tell Vetra?"

Omitting that she hadn't asked the older Turian's permission and the same still slept on his couch back in his forest home, Sindri smiled at her.

"She's already at my house. Last night was scary so I thought I'd just let her sleep and come get you before the sun comes up so the rotten ones don't see us."

With a conspiratorial tone, Sid covered her mouth and whispered unnecessarily.

"So it is like a game of hide and seek? What happens if they find us?"

"They won't. I never brought anyone to where I live out, hidden in the forest. And if they do, your sister and I will fight them. But they wouldn't dare try because if they do my grandmother will skin them alive. The danger is that they might try to be sneaky about it, so we need to be sneakier and give them the slip."

With an enthusiastic nod, Sindri squeezed the young Turian on the shoulder as she bounded out of bed in her pajamas.

"Pack your things in one of the duffle bags I have in the living room. Then start packing all the food we can carry in another. I'll go get your sister's stuff."

Leaving the little one to her tasks, Sindri returned to the living room and snatched up a duffle bag before letting himself into the last room.

Looking about the equally bare room Sindri began to ransack the drawers with practiced speed. Stuffing shirts, jackets and unmentionables into the bag he moved onto the few electronic picture frames in the room which cycled photos of a quartet of Turians, the eldest two of which seemed uncomfortable together but much happier apart and with their children. Continuing with his rifling through Vetra's belongings he stopped after reaching under the bed, reaching in he grasped a black carrying case and pulled it out. Taking a peek inside he shut it again and put it away into his bags before a clatter from the kitchen brought him back out.

Grunting, Sid was dragging out a duffle back out into the living room filled to bursting with dextro-compatible food.

With a smile, she began popping on her boots.

"Are you sure you got all your things from your room? Your bag seems a little light."

"Vee and I don't have much stuff. We've moved around a lot."

Hiding a small, sympathetic frown the human looked about the living room.

"Ok, so I have her stuff. You have yours and all the food. Is there anything else we need? What about your linens and covers?"

"Those aren't ours. Vee said they belong to the apartment."

"What about the little box in the third room?"

Sid snapped her mouth shut as her mandibles fluttered for a moment.

"There's some stuff in there I broke of Vee's. I got grounded for it. I sat on her lamp."

Sindri shouldered three of the biggest bags with visible effort (mostly from the food bag) and opened the door to the hallway.

"Go get your toothbrushes and medicines if you have any. Go get the box too. I'll come downstairs and stuff everything into my vehicle and I'll come get you."

Rushing faster than what was probably safe for him to do so on winter pavement Sindri kicked open the door to the back lot where only his vehicle and that of the landlord sat. His eyes opened wide in the dim light as he moved with as much stealth he could being as encumbered as he was. He tossed all the bags in his back seat before locking the vehicle and listening closely while minding the open lot in front of him and glancing through the windows and the lot's exit behind him. Running back to the door he let himself back in and up to Vetra's apartment. After the slap of frigid air receded for the second time he could really begin to feel how sore his face was.

What greeted him as soon as he entered was Sid with a duffle bag around her shoulders and a box at her feet as she closed the door and looked at him with an excited smile.

"Don't forget to lock up."

Smiling in spite of himself Sindri obliged her.

"Good thinking."

Grabbing the small box of broken junk and holding Sid's hand the pair made their way out of the apartment complex and into the cold morning air.

"Do you think we could fix Vee's lamp?" asked Sid as she ran to Sindri's vehicle.

Sindri opened her door and sparing another look around he nodded at her.

"I think that would be a great idea."

As Sindri pulled out of the lot and down the street he turned left then down towards the now deserted Old Jinn and to the road out of town and into the woods he considered carefully what was to be done next.

He had successfully grabbed Sid and was bringing her to Vetra. At least they would both be safe at home.

Next, he had to call Grandmother and make the drive all the way to her in the next town over in the valley past the forest to talk about what he needed to be assured.

"What's this? A gun?" asked Sid as she had opened Sindri's glove compartment and gingerly held Sindri's Avex Pistol with both her fingers away from the trigger and the barrel away from him.

"That's dangerous, Vee says. You shouldn't keep a gun in here, anyone could just find it."

Grabbing the gun and putting it back into the compartment he shut it and continued driving.

"Don't worry about it, it is not loaded and I keep all the ammunition at home. I only carry it to scare bad people away."

"This is so exciting! We're going to have so much fun living together." squeaked Sid as she looked out the windows and into the forest that swallowed them both.

"How do you know where to turn to get to your house? I don't see any signs."

Sindri exhaled deeply as relief intermingled with guilt in his chest and the full weight of last night's events hit him as Sid echoed her sister's gesture of looking out into the deep woods.

"The trees tell me, I know every stone and every corner of this place. No one else could find us if they tried" he answered trying to sound reassuring.

_Oh my Gods, I traded bedding Alexandra last night for hiding a Turian at my house and kidnapping her sister._

-0-

Vetra woke up slowly, the soreness across her limbs began to bother her as consciousness began to return to her. The couch was not comfortable to her long frame but at least she wasn't cold. The night regardless had been a sleepless one for more than half of it. She'd dozed and slept lightly as she worried about Sid and how to tell her what had happened, what would happen next and how they were in danger. That and being in a strange man's house Vetra had been wary about any nighttime visits from her host. But remembering how he'd told her how viscerally disgusted he was by her multiple times she buried the concern. Even if it did hurt her pride a little. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had shown her any attention.

No matter. Only Sid mattered. Giving her a better life than her parent's ever could have given both of them.

The crackle of meat cooking and the quiet susurrus of what she realized was whispering opened her eyes.

Vetra turned her head and looked at the kitchen with nearly shut eyes observing the candid scene before her.

Sindri and Sid stood at her kitchen, Sindri in a long-sleeved, hooded shirt and shorts without socks (spirits knew how that human was not cold) and her sister in her regular orange pajamas. Her favorite pair, the ones with a red star on it. The man was instructing her on how to cook with an iron skillet and to Vetra's surprise, Sid seemed genuinely delighted. They whispered quietly as he leaned back on the counter and watched Sid carefully fork and flip a few slices of Xillah meat.

"How will I know if it's done?"

Leaning forward Sindri cupped Sid's hand and pressed her first digit to the muscle beneath her thumb. Then the second.

"See how with your second finger the muscle is more firm when you reach to touch?"

"Yeah."

"That's about how hard you want the meat to be when you prod it with the fork to test it."

The little Turian immediately turned to prod every slice with intense, clinical detail and attention.

"How do you know which finger to test with? You have so many."

Stifling a laugh Sindri tickled her sides for an instant.

"I don't count them. I go by how firm it feels, you ding-dong." he teased as she giggled and pushed him away.

In silence, Vetra continued to gaze at the pair's interactions. She knew Sindri had taken her keys and likely looked at her identification card to go get Sid without her knowledge. Such an invasion of privacy would have made her very angry in any other circumstance but she was really just pleased to see Sid unharmed and safe.

And happy even.

She couldn't remember when had been the last time she'd seen her younger sister this happy just to be doing something so simple. And with someone, she thought of as a friend.

Despite the hard words between them the night before Sindri did seem genuinely to be enjoying himself. There was an assured confidence and ease of purpose with which he handled her sister which seemed natural to him. And he was smiling.

Actually smiling. Not a smirk or a grin or one of his serrated, rictus smiles when he was about to do or say something awful. He was smiling with delight and a glow of genuine affection in his eyes.

Turning his head towards her to check if Vetra was still asleep the older Turian flinched and opened her eyes.

_Oh spirits! Look at his face!_

Sindri's right eye was a singular, carmine orb filled with an obsidian disk at its center nestled in buns of purple, blood-engorged flesh. Vetra felt a sudden surge of remorse as she looked at Sindri's visage and knowing she was responsible for the only hideous thing in that otherwise pleasant scene she'd just been watching.

Of the man who'd jumped between a gun and his family to protect her.

Who'd stolen Sid in the dead of night to bring her to a safe place.

As he was teaching her to cook and making them both breakfast.

"Good morning, Ms. Nyx. Did we wake you?" he began, pleasantly.

Vetra paused for a second too long before a creaking reply of "No" crept from her throat.

With a grin Sindri bowed his head.

"I am glad. And if it is not too much trouble I'd like your help with something before we eat."

"Sure!" said Vetra perhaps a bit too quickly because of her embarrassment.

"My eye has been bothering me and I need an extra set of hands to perhaps to remedy it."

Smiling pleasantly he turned to Sid.

"My young friend, after the meat is done I'll have you plate it for yourself and your sister. Could you arrange my plate too with my food please?"

Sid nodded enthusiastically as she continued to carefully assess the readiness of the Xillah meat.

Gesturing towards the bathroom Sindri looked at Vetra.

Following her there he gestured to her to wait before going to his room. To Vetra's confusion, he returned with a vicious and freshly sharpened looking knife, he plucked a towel from the closet before laying it out on the sink.

"So, I am going to cut my face and-"

Vetra's hands grabbed onto Sindri's of their own accord.

"You are going to what?"

"I said I am going to cut my face and drain the hematomas where they sit. This side of my face is swollen enough that healing will take longer and impair my eyesight if I do not drain them."

The Turian continued to look at him skeptically.

"Trust me, I'm a doctor."

With an exasperated laugh Vetra shook her head.

"No, you are not!"

Smiling again Sindri handed her the towel.

"Please just catch the blood and help me if I cannot see."

Unsure of herself she opened the towel and held it underneath his neck as Sindri turned towards the mirror and gave the knife a singular appraising look before pouring medical alcohol over it.

"Have you ever done this befo-Oh my spirits! Sindri! Stop-"

The human brought the knife to his brow and with a light cut he sliced into it before a curtain of blood washed down and into his eye and down his face onto his chin. Quickly Vetra buried his face into the towel as she fumbled with where to apply pressure. A sudden yelp of pain told her she was pressing on the right bony ridge.

"You idiot. How many times have you done this before?"

Sindri held up a hand with three fingers raised.

Both stood there for a long moment, awkwardly holding onto one another. The human began to pull away slightly before burying his face hard into Vetra's hands again.

A muffled "not done" was intoned before Sindri's hands grabbed onto Vetra's sides with a hesitant touch.

Vetra continued to hold onto him as her arms began to tire. She tried hard not to think about how human hands felt on her skin or how her skin felt to him. His too-small shirt revealed her midriff whenever she even slightly raised her elbows or moved them away from her torso; understanding he didn't want to grab her arms in order to get in the way he'd just held onto the only thing he could.

After another few long minutes and a few light clatters from the kitchen, Sindri pulled away from her and blinked hard.

The hematoma on his face was gone but a short and nasty cut remained. Quietly he reached into space behind his pull-away bathroom mirror and produced a vial with a paste which he smeared a dabbing of onto his face.

Reaching for the knife again Sindri stopped as Vetra snatched it up first.

"Sit." she instructed him as she dropped the toilet's lid and pointed at it.

Sindri obeyed and took the blood-splattered towel she handed him.

"How deep do I need to cut?"

"Enough to open the curtain, so to speak. You will know."

"And you trust me to cut your face with a knife?"

Sindri smiled.

"I trusted you with a loaded gun to my head last night."

Vetra kneeled in front of him and cupped the back of his neck with one hand as she gripped the knife with the other.

"Last chance to back out, Bogatyr."

Smiling, Sindri held up the towel.

"I trust you."

Trying hard not to dwell on Sindri's remark she cut into the bulge atop his cheek and beneath his eye and was rewarded with a scarlet curtain of blood. Quickly burying his face in the towel Sindri waved her away with a muffled, "Ok, I can take it from here. You can go eat breakfast."

Standing up Vetra peeked out of the bathroom and saw Sid setting a throw blanket on the ground by her modest place of rest. Her sister had begun to set out the plates of food on pillows and the big jugs of juice on the carpet with altogether too many paper towels. She was hungry, they both were. Looking back at Sindri she thought for a moment before kneeling by him and gently stroking the back of his head.

"Thanks for getting Sid." she whispered.

Slowly Sindri removed his face from the blanket before looking at Vetra for confirmation of the abatement of his bleeding face. Reaching over for another smear of paste he applied it to her concise cut without a wince of pain.

"Thank you for healing me."

Shaking her head, Vetra looked into his mismatched eyes.

"I did that. Don't thank me for hurting you just to fix it."

"You didn't have to stay with me just to make sure I wouldn't stumble."

"And you don't have to help my sister or me. I just don't understand why you are doing this."

To her surprise Sindri looked at her and smiled with another emotion she didn't immediately recognize. Gently he grabbed her right hand and pressed the back of it into his forehead while holding his right hand over his heart. His eyes closed and he exhaled.

"And you don't have to. I will take care of everything, then, we can part ways."

-0-

Sindri adjusted the dials on an archaic apparatus as he consulted an old notepad next to his arm, oblivious to the two women behind him as the machine struggled to produce the desired result.

"Did everyone enjoy Sid's breakfast? I certainly did."

Vetra winked at her sister who rocked in her place on the blanket, obviously very pleased by the praise.

"So, what is that old thing?"

"This, Ms. Nyx is a very old, very ornery, long-range radio from back home. No one but us Darskirr use them and we have different frequencies at which we can communicate. What I am trying to do is raise Grandmother's channel in order to let her know I want to see her about the-rotten-people." Sindri caught himself as he thought of Sid.

With a static hiss, the radio fell into its comfortable background buzz. Grabbing a clicking, wired receiver and speaker Sindri clicked a button on it and spoke into it.

"Delta-Alpha, Delta-Alpha do you read me? This is November. Over."

A blurt of static replied before a snap of radio communication overcame the garble.

"November? This is Delta-Alpha. How can I help you? Over."

Sid stood and leaned on Sindri as he made a sign for her to remain silent.

"Yes, it's me. I am reaching out to contact Delta-Alpha Actual, are they available? Over."

Vetra stood and joined her sister on Sindri's other side.

"Stand-by, November."

A long minute stretched out before another garble of static was quickly replaced by the speaker on the other side.

"November, be advised Delta-Alpha Actual is requesting to know the reason for the communication. Over."

Looking at Vetra Sindri clicked the speaker button again.

"I need to see Delta-Alpha in person. Yesterday an oath was nearly broken by a member of the Darskirr and this is a matter for which she needs to adjudicate. Over."

"Are you the injured party, November? Over."

"No. Over."

"Who are you representing? Where is the injured party? Over."

Sindri looked spooked for a moment before answering.

"I can speak on their behalf. Over."

"I will remind you, November. Darskirr matters are between ourselves, if the injured party is not Darskirri have the humans come forward and speak to us openly and we will-"

"They are not humans, they are a pair of Turian sisters. One of which was in mortal danger last night, danger which was only circumvented because of my direct intervention on her behalf by placing myself in said danger."

Silence stretched out uncomfortably for a few long seconds before Sindri tossed in an "over" with exasperated eyes.

"November, please confirm; you said you saved a Turian by putting yourself at risk? Over."

Dejectedly Sindri nodded.

"That's about the short of it. Yes. Over."

"Standby. Over."

After a short moment, the voice of a woman started over the radio which made Sindri jump in his seat, nearly dropping the receiver.

"Sindri?"

"Hi! H-hello. Yes, I'm here Grandmother."

"I wanted to hear this from your own voice; what happened?"

"Nikita almost shot a Turian who is known to me."

"How is this Turian known to you?"

"I healed her sister when she broke her leg almost a month ago."

"Ah, a work acquaintance then?"

"Of course."

Vetra could see Sindri's foot shaking.

"And did you charge her anything for the privilege?"

Sindri bit down on his lip hard.

"Sindri, we may not be face to face, but I am your Elder. Your silence is not an answer I can accept."

"I didn't."

"You did not what?"

"I didn't charge her anything."

"No money? Surely a favor then."

"No."

"So, you healed the leg of a Turian and charged them nothing nor exacted a favor for the kindness. Correct?"

"Yes, Grandmother."

With an audible sigh, the woman's voice returned.

"Sindri, why are you going to put me through this again?"

"Grandmother, I did it out of the virtue of charity. They could never be my friends, our lives are separate as they should be."

"Do you care for them?"

Sindri froze, his eyes glassy with effort.

"I-I don't."

"Such a shallow lie, I am not even angry for smelling it as it is being spoken."

"Grandmother, please speak to me. Let me see you today. I'll drive out right now and I will speak for them and set things to rights."

"That you will do. I will see you, today, and we shall speak of what you have done and what Nikita has done."

Looking at the two Turians with a small measure of relief Sindri smiled.

"I'll set out in thirty minutes."

"Oh, and my boy. Bring the Turians."

"Why?"

"Because I wish to meet them and take the full measure of the two sisters who you are sticking your neck out for. Over and out."

With effort, Sindri calmed himself before standing.

"Get dressed." he said as he sped to his room and shut the door behind him.

Sid looked at her sister with worried eyes.

"He is in _so_ much trouble."

Vetra looked back at her sibling hoping she was wrong.

-0-

The drive from Sindri's house was one taken mostly in silence. The human said nothing as he pulled his peacoat tight around himself like military garb through the ride to the town of Napoka which he had explained was a couple of hours away. Initially, he'd advised both Vetra and Sid to wear something "nice" and both obliged sensing the severity of the situation. While he himself dressed like the partisan of an urban guerrilla army with boots and dark fatigues, Sid had dressed in utilitarian but clean clothing with a puffy sleeveless jacket in blue hues. Her sister, however, had dressed in similar but casual clothing with a matching sleeveless jacket made of real leather. Her father's favorite jacket. Neither spoke overmuch on the trip, but this was alleviated in part as they began to leave the high forests in which Sindri made his home and began the long descent into a valley which he explained was home to a great deal of Darskirri farmers.

And no non-humans.

And despite the gravity of the meaning in his comment, he pressed on pointing out several landmarks to them as well as Lake Ulaine which shone beautifully with its thin icy surface in the afternoon suns.

As they began to draw closer to the town which looked several hundred years more archaic by at least two centuries to Grennik at least from outward appearances, Sindri slowed the car to a stop by the gothic lettered sign "Welcome to Napoka".

Taking a deep breath, Sindri took his hands off the wheel and began a conversation without prompt or opener.

"We are going to see Grandmother. Her name is Elisa Luxemn before she married into the Luxemns she was a Bogatyr and my father's mother. She intends to speak to both of you, but I don't know in what fashion or for what purpose. Just use your best judgment."

Vetra turned to him, "Is there an etiquette we must follow or a set of rules? Do we bow? What do we call her?"

Shaking his head he replied, "You are not Darskirr. The rules and etiquette apply only to me and not you. Just be polite, do not speak unless spoken to and answer questions concisely. You may call her Elder as that is her honorific."

"Is your grandmother going to ground you?" asked Sid as she pushed herself between Vetra and Sindri's seat to look at him.

"Don't know. I hope that's all that she is going to do to me."

Reaching to his glove compartment, he took out his Avex Mark II pistol. Pulling back on the barrel he checked the chamber and handed the pistol to Vetra.

"I prepped the gun before we left. Complete safety check and fresh ammo. Now, understand that we are going to be frisked before we go see her so I'm going to have you stuff this in the pocket inside your hood, inside the beanie hat I'm also going to put there to mask the shape of the gun. Don't bring any heavy coats and do your best to look meek."

"Sindri."

The human looked at her wondering if he'd missed something.

"Why are you giving me this? How dangerous is this going to be?"

With a frown. "It will be more dangerous for me than you. The Darskirr have a fundamental principle of doing no harm to children, but I have no wish to test that. I'm also not going to let you walk into a den of dragons without at least a hand cannon."

Speeding the car back up and down the cobblestone street, Sindri gripped the steering wheel tight.

"Keep Sid close, Vetra. And take my keys if I don't leave with you."

-0-

Vetra suddenly felt very vulnerable as she stood apart from Sid as a human touched her waist, legs, arms, and sleeves. Fingers checked her pockets and her jacket, a quick glance looked into her hood and noticed her bunched up hat which was left unmolested. Trying very hard not to look relieved she spared a look at Sid as a woman performed the same duties with a neutral expression but with very tender fingers. Sid giggled when a squeeze to her waist tickled her. The woman smiled as did the man in front of her who was almost as tall as Vetra herself.

Sindri himself was not frisked but instead took off his coat and jacket leaving him with a plain white shirt as he also handed the man taking his clothing his long knife.

With a nod from both friskers, Sindri gestured at both of them to follow. Vetra noticed his expression was hard and the flesh around his bloody eye was no longer distended. In silence, Sid scampered up to him as her older sister followed and the doors were opened for them. Without a second glance, Sindri proceeded in with perfect posture, chest out and shoulders back as he walked without haste down the hall which was crowded with nicely dressed humans in the styles common to the Darskirr. The crowds fell silent but the quiet jeering and laughing of a gaggle of Darskirri adults who'd been present at the pub beforehand. If Sindri was surprised he gave no indication, Vetra certainly was. Sid grabbed her hand as her head arched to look at the old wooden carvings of beasts she'd never seen before or the artistic depictions of battles waged with swords and spears on the arched ceiling of the halls themselves.

Turning into a side passage, Sindri began to sift through a wall of rounded hooks from which hung hundreds of different necklaces; all of them with a stone of varying hues. With a wordless snap of his fingers, Sindri reached high and plucked a pendant from a lonely hook towards the top corner of the room. Putting it on Sindri walked out of the room and continued down the hall.

Vetra at a glance could make out that it was an opal pendant, a big one, with some inscription on it.

As she walked, she noticed the crowd was following her at a respectful distance. If not for the jeering assailants from last night, the Darskirri who followed her were positively dignified.

The hall eventually opened to a courtyard with a bare, stone floor and a single elegant chair made of wood foreign to this world. And in the chair sat an old woman with sharp eyes the same shade as Sindri's.

The Turians followed the man onto the platform and stopped as Sindri gestured them to approach no closer. The crowds began to empty into the courtyard and surround them. It unsettled Vetra to notice how absolutely silent the air had suddenly become. It explained at least why the streets were so deserted in the tiny town. They were all waiting for them.

With a deep bow towards the old woman, Sindri stepped closer to her and kneeled on both legs in the cold snow.

"Elder Luxemn, I've come to submit for your judgment a complaint I have to lodge against Nikita Val'Dren for endangering the lives of the Turians without just cause that I have brought with me for you today."

The old woman did not stand up but simply gestured towards the crowd and another man stepped forward, then bowed and kneeled in identical fashion to Sindri within arm's reach of the man.

Vetra's eye widened as she recognized the man Sindri had saved her from.

His cousin.

"Elder Luxemn, I too have come to submit for your judgment the charge of oathbreaking by Sindry Bogatyr by sheltering these two Turians without cause and raising arms against his own people in their defense."

Sindri remained silent and still.

The old woman clapped her hands together and stood.

"I have heard both complaints separately and now we shall have the truth of this out between all of us and in the presence of the Gods. The truth and only the truth will part your lips while within these halls, so do you swear upon your names?"

In unison, the men agreed.

"Now, as Nikita tells the tale; his brother James found a Turian who is present- who claimed to be Sindri's friend- outside his clinic in Grennik. Having brought her to the local pub Sindri corrected her on her lack of fellowship with him. He poured ale on her, offered a procession of insults then she struck him back having violated Bogatyr's agreement, to which Nikita then drew arms to defend his kin against the Turian. Only, he was surprised because Sindri then sprung to protect her with his own body, even breaking a bottle to use as a weapon and raising a hand against his own encroaching kin. Correct?"

Nikita nodded.

"And as you claim, Sindri. Nikita simply drew arms to harm her without just cause. Care to explain?"

Sindri raised his head and breathed deeply of the winter air.

"Vetra is known to me. She misunderstood that I do not mean to fraternize with her. So I corrected her on the matter. I was however harsh with my treatment as I did not want to lose face with present company and didn't wish to suffer such embarrassment again. Nikita taking up arms with the intent to do her harm is uncalled for, her death would have been unjust. Which is why I protected her."

"A misunderstanding then? Good. Then this will be over quickly." intoned The Elder as she sat back onto her chair. With a curl of her wrinkly fingers, she beckoned Vetra forward.

"And you are the Turian who struck my grandson and gave him a bloody eye?"

Sid looked up at her sister with concern.

Vetra hesitated as she wondered what the correct answer was. She feared what the wrong one would do to Sindri.

"I am."

"And you do understand that in our ways and our laws such insult cannot go unanswered. Yes?"

"I do-"

"There is no insult between us that needs redressing. She did not mean to harm me so grievously." said Sindri looking up from his kneeling.

"That is untrue from my perspective." interjected Nikita.

"She looked like she wanted to kill you. And for a second there, so did you after she mentioned Callux."

With a snarl, Sindri stood with a look of murder in his eyes.

"You will sit!" shouted The Elder, to almost instantaneous compliance.

"We are here to address the complaints lodged, not to dreg up the past."

"But Elder, I believe Sindri's past informs his present choices."

"Is that not true of us all?" she replied with a sneer and flap of her wrist.

"Now" she began again as she looked at Vetra pleasantly. "Tell me how you came to know my grandson."

Vetra patted Sid absentmindedly as she recalled Sindri's instructions.

"My sister broke her leg and Sindri mended it."

"At his clinic?"

"Yes."

"And how much did he charge you for his services, miss?"

"Nothing."

Mumblings came from all sides and the Darskirr shot Sindri disapproving glances.

"Nothing? Why, that's a deal you'd offer family or a dearest friend. But my grandson, a stranger, simply took care of your sister and asked for nothing in return."

The one hundred and twenty thousand credit cocktail again came to her mind as she did her best not to look away from the glittering eyes that were assessing her, much like Sindri once had when looking for lies.

"I insisted, but he refused adamantly to accept payment. He blew me off, so I went home."

"Ah, then that is interesting. Now, I'd like to ask the one party to this who has yet to speak."

With a surprisingly gentle smile and an outstretched hand, The Elder beckoned to Sid.

"Come to me little one and we'll speak of what Sindri has done."

Looking to her sister and Sindri for permission Sid took the old woman's hand and came close to her chair.

"How old are you, little one?"

"I'm ten years old, I'll be eleven next winter. My name is Sidera Nyx but everyone calls me Sid. Sindri and me call my sister Vee, for Vetra."

"Well, I am pleased to meet you, young one. I am Elisa. I am the Elder in these parts which for you means two things: you must not lie to me and I must be fair to you. Do you understand?"

Sid nodded once as she leaned lightly into the old woman. Her eyes looked at the rings on her fingers and the light chains on her dark dress and robes.

"So, what do you think about Sindri?"

"He's nice! I like him."

"Is he your friend?"

"He is."

"Why do you think he wants to be friends with you?"

"Because he's nice. And he's friends with everyone."

"Does he ever lie to you or your sister? Have you ever heard him lie to anyone?"

"Oh, sure! He told me this today really early that he doesn't lie, but he's been lying all morning. He said Vee and me and him aren't friends but we are. He said there were some rotten people in his family and he'd fight them if they tried to hurt me or sis and he even moved the two of us into his house this morning."

"Rotten people? Really?"

"Yup, he said Turians and his family fought a long time ago and some of them are still mad. I think he's afraid some of his family will think we fought them when that happened just because they can't tell Turians apart."

Looking back at her sister Sid added, "And you said that I should never hit a friend, but Sindri was mean to you and you punched him in the face. You are lucky he's forgiven you because his eye is all bloody and his family could be really mad at you if he didn't."

Vetra looked at her sister, wide-eyed at how quickly she'd blabbered and how much she had done so. Sparing a look at Sindri he looked like he'd just born witness to a trainwreck.

"Why did you freely heal the little girl, Sindri?"

Looking down at the snow Sindri gritted his teeth.

"Because I like children."

The Elder held her arms up as if begging for deliverance.

"As your grandmother, I do understand the sentiment but I do not go about healing them for nothing for strangers. Or Turians for that matter. They have taken enough from us. And from you."

With a sigh, the old woman continued.

"Now, why did you heal this child? Why did you spring to defend her older sister. And why did you move them into your home in order to protect them from your rotten family? And keep in mind that you lied to me on the radio that you did not in fact care for those two when it is so obvious that you do."

A triumphant smile broke across Nikita's face as a pained look came across Sindri's.

The world around them held its breath as it waited for Sindri to speak.

"Because, they are innocent." choked Sindri as he looked to the people around him.

"They have done nothing wrong, they have visited no evil upon our people. How could I judge them for the sins of other Turians when they are not soldiers, they had nothing to do with the battle for Dubek and they spilled no Darskirri blood?"

"Spare me the flowery speech. You have another problem now and you know it." began the Elder as she stood from her chair.

"You raised a hand at your kin in defense of the people who killed ours. You have broken the oath you made a half-decade before; to quit your needless affinity with the Turians and befriending them as you had that Callux before he was killed. Then we honored the challenge by blood you demanded thereafter for your agreement to leave the non-humans in Grennik in peace. The Darskirr have honored their word. You have not."

The old woman raised her hands to the sky and began again.

"It is now with my authority as Elder that I agree to pass judgment on your broken oath Sindri Bogatyr. In presence of the Gods and our people as witnesses I now perform my charge."

"Nikita Val'Dren, Sindri's crime was against you and yours. And the nature of his agreement affects you in particular. For having broken a godsworn oath Sindri must make amends and be punished or be exiled, I will let your judgment inform the outcome of mine."

A thousand-yard stare played across Sindri's eyes and Nikita looked over at him with a demure smile.

"What is exile?" asked Sid as Vetra then immediately tried to shush her.

The Elder did not answer her, but Nikita looked back at her after holding his chin high at them.

"It means we kick him out. He won't be one of us anymore and he can never come back."

At this Sid began to tear up and she hugged her sister.

Looking back to his cousin, Nikita sighed contentedly.

"We all make mistakes, but if we come up short before each other or the Gods we must pay the price. And I think it would be punishment enough that if Sindri gives up his clinic for non-humans, publicly forsakes and renounces these two and moves to Napoka where he can be kept on the straight and narrow, I think that would account for the dishonor."

"I concur, I will uphold the terms of Sindri's penance." said the Elder.

With a click of her mandibles, Sid broke away from Vetra and furiously kicked snow at Nikita who for a brief moment looked confused.

"No!"

"Sid, stop!" urged Vetra as she made to grab her sister.

The little Turian ran to Sindri and latched onto his back, wrapping both her arms around his neck in an embrace.

"No! That's not fair! You are making Sindri choose between Vee and me or his family!"

Nikita brushed the snow off himself and looked at the little Turian.

"That's right. He is a human and you are a Turian. He can choose between his entire people or a ten-year-old urchin and her bitch of a sister."

Sid kicked another spray of snow into Nikita's face.

"No! Elisa he's not being fair!"

With some reluctance, The Elder looked at Sid.

"It is Nikita's right to choose Sindri's punishment. And it is not out of place. He will never be a Turian, young one. He will never be family to you, his place is here, he belongs to his people."

Sid held onto Sindri and squeezed him harder.

"No! It's not fair! You are doing this to him because you want to hurt him! You want him to choose because you hate Turians more than you love him!"

Vetra kneeled by Sid and held her giving her a warning with her eyes.

_Please stop._

Pressing on, Sid began to try to pull Sindri to his feet even as his eyes remained downcast.

"Don't choose, Sindri. Let's just leave. We'll go home and live together. And we can be a family, I've always wanted an older brother and I can be your new sister."

Sindri rose to his feet on shaky legs as tears ran down his face. With glassy eyes, he looked at Nikita who looked at him with contempt.

"If I forsake all friendship with these two. If I swear on pain of death to do as you have asked, will you swear that these two will be left in peace?"

"You are in no position to make demands of anyone-"

With a violent shove, Sindri pushed Nikita away and almost off-balance.

"I will accept no poisoned gift from you, Nikita. I will not abandon the Turians to a pack of jackals for them to fall prey to when no one is watching."

With his right hand, he reached for his necklace and ripped it off his and held it in a death grip towards his cousin.

"Come take my name from me if you think you have the stones to do it! I'll beat you bloody like I did last time!"

"Enough!" snapped The Elder.

Stepping forward she snatched the opal stone from his necklace.

"You have no right to put your hands on him, he is your kindred and the punishment is fair. Your family or the Turians. What's your choice?"

Sindri began to calm as the red left his vision, gradually he became very aware of the little Turian next to him and the sister behind him.

He took a step back and grabbed Vetra's hand.

The Turian looked at him in disbelief before quickly squeezing his hand.

"We can take care of ourselves. Don't do this." she said, not too sure of what the eventual outcome of having to watch her back in Grennik in perpetuity would turn out.

Sindri did not move, nor did his eyes soften.

Taking a deep breath the woman before him stifled a wince of remorse on her face as she recalled the right words to say.

"Sindri Bogatyr, you are now an exile by your own choosing. All of our homes and helping hands are now closed to you. No man shall call you brother nor child call you uncle. No woman will have you for a husband nor elder accept you as their child. You are dead to us in name and in deed. Your clan name will be stricken from its birthstone and your living death shall go unmourned."

With a locked jaw the old woman glowered at her former grandson.

"Your family would have been ashamed of you."

Mustering a half-smile Sindri began to pull Sid and Vetra away.

"I don't care."

"Get out!" the woman screamed.

Uninterrupted and unimpeded Sindri led the pair of Turians through the same halls with increasing speed until they reached the entrance where Sindri's peacoat lay unceremoniously tossed on the ground. Snatching it up without breaking his stride he put in on and continued out into the bright light of Mirrard's suns.

He slowed his exit to his vehicle as the same raven-haired young woman from the pub stood waiting for them outside.

Slowly, Sindri stopped before his eyes softened for a moment.

Vetra halted next to him and Sid held onto his hand.

She and he held the other's gaze for a long moment until Sindri stepped forward and around her.

"Come, let's go home." he said to Sid as he continued to guide her.

"They told me you were different." the raven-haired girl started.

"And they were right. When I heard about the last Bogatyr I wondered what a man like that would look like. A man who'd survived everything her kind had thrown at him and when I saw you for the first time I knew you were special. We've been friends for a long time and you never gave me a chance to be close to you."

Sindri opened the car door and held it open for Sid as she hopped in, mute to the exchange happening around her.

"I would have married you, Sindri. I would have had your children if you'd asked me to. I would have done anything if you'd asked me to. And _this_ is what you left me for! I hope she's worth it! Nothing is going to turn out like your stories, exile. She **will** turn on you and you will rue the day you turned your back on your own people for the sake of our enemies!"

Vetra looked back at the raven-haired girl as she vanished down the road as they pulled away. Mouth agape she could not believe what Sindri had just done. Looking at the steering wheel she noticed his white knuckles and trembling hands.

For the first time since she'd met him, Sindri looked vulnerable and lost.

And very very hurt.


	4. One Promise Made

The rest of the drive to Grennik had been done in silence.

The ground from Napoka to the high forests in which Sindri made his home was crossed with smoother haste than it had taken them to arrive at the farming village. While the settlement slowly vanished from sight as the vehicle ascended the winter highlands and into the fog of the forest, Vetra began to stare out the window of the moving vehicle; more out of a desire to push away from the quiet suffering of the silent human next to her than to engage with it. Sid similarly had found a crook in the seat next to her and laid down, presumably, to unsuccessfully fall asleep.

As the dark pines whipped past her view, their silhouettes only vaguely suggested by the layers of snow that sat on their branches, the Turian thought hard on what had just happened. On what had been said. And what Sindri had done.

So much went unsaid and only alluded to by his former kinsmen, there was a deep well of pain and history between all of them that perhaps for sake of privacy no one had deigned to explain past only what was strictly necessary.

At the very least she was now aware that Sindri had been positively disposed towards Turians in general, and had in fact paid a price almost five years earlier for his transgression. It was very clearly an issue about how his people felt towards the race of their once-enemies and how he felt. Their insistence that they could never reconcile nor be truly forgiven, to say nothing of friendship. This grated against his stubborn defense of those whom he chose to help and come close to. Despite what the Relay 314 Incident had personally cost him.

But no real physical harm had been done that she had been informed of save an altercation between him and Nikita. This was very clearly a matter of intent and of honor amongst the Darskirr. And today, before all of his kinsmen and remaining blood relative, he had been dealt the ultimate punishment towards his dignity and his honor.

He was banished and "stripped of his name."

As they had ascended the roads out of Napoka, Sindri had begun to breathe heavily. Without grimace or complaint, without a glance to his passengers or anything that was not before him in the driver's seat he'd begun to cry. His face remained an impassive, almost indifferent mask, but his eyes wept tears and his breathing suggested a struggle within the human in order to retain his composure. The anguish came off him in waves, his ears were red and his one uninjured eye was bloodshot. His white knuckles gripped the steering wheel as if to crush it or perhaps still his shaking hands.

Vetra struggled to find the right words to say to him. She recalled what she'd been told by virtually everyone who was not Darskirr themselves about the humans of Mirrard. To belong was the most important thing imaginable. And now Sindri belonged to no one.

And he did it to ensure that he could save Sid and herself.

He did so having the choice presented to him and the punishment clearly elucidated. And he chose them instead of his kin.

A deep wave of regret came over Vetra as she stole a glance at the silent human next to her. He hadn't told her everything. He'd lied to her and mislead her frequently, but he'd done so in order to shield her and himself from being harmed or punished. He'd lied to his kin and to her about his intentions but not his actions, she realized. Even with her present and knowing she would not correct him; he told his family he had no wish for Vetra's friendship nor for her to get chummy with him at the pub, despite his subsequent gentle treatment and hospitality and the obvious cracks in his facade that there was some emotional attachment he was not forthcoming about. He'd claimed he did not wish to lose face with those present that night. But it was clear he hated Nikita deeply.

It was a more likely probability that Sindri had humiliated her and struck her in public in the hope that she'd never approach him again and only display acrimonious disdain towards him. In order to protect her and himself of any suspicion and to preclude the possibility of them becoming friends.

Had every insult and every rude act simply been an attempt to keep her and her sister at arm's length?

Wincing she wracked her brain for the two things she yet didn't have enough information to hazard a guess towards his motivations:

What role did Callux play in all of this?

And what impulse sat within Sindri that had pushed him to cast his lot in with them instead of the Darskirr.

Another concern crept into her mind which twisted a knot in her gut. Considering that Sindri was now an exile, what did that mean for the three of them? Would they be shunned more than they already were? Would they be harmed? Or worse?

Vetra wanted to flee. To run. To just pack up her things, grab Sid, and hitch a shuttle off-planet into another solar system far away from any Darskirr. But where did that leave Sindri? Alone in a world full of people who hated him, after he'd protected them and sacrificed all he had in the process.

Could she take him with them after scrounging up the credits for three tickets off-world? Would he agree to abandon Mirrard and flee with two Turians into a new life? What would she do with him? How would living with a human even work? Would he be happy living with them, so far away from other humans like him?

The insistence of his kin that Sindri and they could never truly be friends or family to one another made the prospect daunting. It would certainly be useful to have someone that firm with combat experience and medicinal knowledge to-boot on their travels throughout the galaxy. But he was a human and she and Sid were not. And having been alone for so long the idea of even trying to add to their family of two seemed wrong. It had always more or less been just the two of them even when on Palaven because of their respective parents' absences.

With a sigh, Vetra chanced a look at Sid behind her seat. The little Turian laid still on the seats, her open eyes looking worriedly at her human friend. For a moment their eyes met and with unspoken communication, the elder sister knew Sid desperately wanted to say something but the words escaped her too.

Once deep within the forest, Sindri slowed the vehicle to a gentle and easy speed as he took the hidden twists and turns to his secluded home.

Seemingly out of nowhere his house appeared from behind a bend of brush and branches fallen from the snowfall of a harsh winter. Quickly he pulled into his driveway and parked the vehicle. Without a word nor explanation, he hopped out of the car and walked off into the woods, leaving his keys on Vetra's lap.

The two sisters looked at each other after he vanished in between the trees, waiting for some signal or invitation that never came. At a loss of what to do Vetra frowned.

"Let's go find him so he doesn't get lost."

Nodding, Vetra agreed.

"Good idea, I don't think he should be left alone right now."

-0-

Sindri's composure began to crack like glass.

Like furnace bellows the sounds and thoughts and smells and sights from other Darskirr inflamed the cavalcade of conflicting feelings in his chest. With a single sobbing exhalation, the glass inside him broke and the stumbled through the forest.

He clutched at his chest as he felt the sensation of falling inside his stomach and behind his eyes. A terrible ache grasped his heart in a vice and he felt despair.

True despair.

He was lost. In two days his entire life had fallen apart and there was no one he could turn to. Grief boiled in his guts threatening to make him heave and wretch for a non-existent foulness in his stomach. Who was he now? Nobody. He was nothing. He belonged to no one. He was like the lonely stone in a barren valley. A thing that would endure until turned to dust or crushed under the weight of the world around him then immediately forgotten as though he had never even existed. Unmoored, unnoticed and unwanted. The world would continue to turn, the stars would wheel overhead and he no longer had an answer for the question that life posed to him.

Who are you?

Sindri felt his old answers slip away from his hands like snow melting between his unscarred hands and fingers. He had been a healer, a son, a brother, a warrior, he had been a Darskirri man. This had meaning, it was his fixed point and the one unmoving axis upon which his entire world turned. In the darkest days of the First Contact War, he had leaned on it. He had taken strength from what that meant. It described who he was. Whatever hand was raised to harm his people, he would swiftly cut down. Whatever the Gods threw at him and his clan as the seasons changed, they would ride the storm. Whatever fear wore at his nerves, he would reach for and conquer. Whatever he could not help, he would endure.

Indomitability with courage. Honor with strength. Wisdom with temperance.

This is what it meant to be Darskirr and though he often fell short of the ideal, he still wanted to strive for it.

To reject the comforts of modernity to live. Not just survive. But to truly live within the universe. Breathing as it did. Fighting as it did. Spawning life as it did. Dying as it did. Not sequestered away from it growing soft and weak and frail with technology.

But now he wasn't.

He wasn't anything.

And for what?

Rage burned like molten venom in his veins. Anger the likes of which he had not felt in a lifetime, both at himself for having made the choice he did and to his family for doing this to him. For making him choose between Vetra, Sid and his people. But it hadn't been out of place, had it? His people didn't make him choose anything. They offered him a way home. He was the aberrant, he was the one who was wrong. Vetra and Sid were not human, they were incapable of love the way his kind were. They would never be kindred to him. How could they? And how could he in turn hate his people for casting him out for his own chosen path? He was the one who had broken his oath. And he'd failed them just as he'd failed Callux. But he had finished the task he'd set out to do.

The butcher's bill had been paid. Sid and Vetra would not be harmed and he would bear the punishment.

Alone.

And the Turians would leave him to his fate.

Stumbling through the brush he collapsed onto his knees at the bank of a river that still flowed amidst a beach of polished, gray stones.

He cupped his face in his hands and he screamed; long and loud his bellowing was swallowed by the sound of rushing waters.

When he finally pulled his hands away he wept.

Sindri wept like he hadn't since he had come back home after a Turian artillery blast leveled the house he was born in and obliterated his parents and siblings. He wept like he hadn't since he had when he dug for three days and failed to find enough of his family's bodies to bury.

Red-faced and despondent he looked up at the gray sky.

"Kill me!" he cried out with his hands raised in supplication.

"Come! Kill me! Please!"

He fell face forward as he writhed on the cold, wet stones.

_Please. I cannot endure it. I have nothing left, I am completely alone. Please, Gods. Let me die._

An awareness came over him as he felt his long-knife within its sheath poking him in the ribs.

He dreaded it.

The final dishonor and ultimate fate of the exile.

It was expected and it was the coward's way out despite being the eventual fate of all those banished of the clans. So unbearable it was to continue living on without their people, whatever their crimes were.

But what more did he have to lose really?

Who did he have left to embarrass?

Numbly he raised his head to the sky and sobbed.

_What a sorry end. But it rhymes. Turians couldn't break me and in the end, I broke myself. The Last Bogatyr._

He reached for his knife with a trembling hand before he became distantly aware of a clattering of stones behind him.

Perhaps the Gods had answered his prayer and sent a wild beast to end his suffering.

The universe was merciful after all.

Sindri closed his eyes and waited for whatever came and to his surprise, he felt a pair three-fingered hands wipe his face.

"Sindri" pleaded a pained little voice.

Opening his aching eyes Sindri looked at Sid and frowned.

She was crying. Why was she crying?

"Why are you hurting, little miss? What's wrong?"

Sid said nothing and just latched onto him and held on tight.

Genuine confusion began to assert itself in Sindri's mind as the pain began to fade and his cold skin began to warm.

"Sid, you shouldn't be out here. It's not safe. You have to go home to your sister."

Another soft clatter of stones alerted him to another presence, craning his neck back he looked at Vetra. Her eyes looked glassy and the space around them dark. The thin venous skin on her face was deeply blue. Was she in distress?

To his surprise, she kneeled and embraced him as her little sister did.

What were they doing? Was this a Turian thing? Why were they out here?

"Go home. You don't need me anymore."

Looking up at him she held on harder.

"Don't say that." Vetra corrected him, with an unfriendly look on her face even as she wiped at her eye with a little embarrassment on her face.

"Please, just go. I am exiled, I don't belong anywhere."

The older Turian narrowed her eyes at him, deep in thought, before seemingly coming to a decision.

"Neither do we-"

"You don't understand. I have nothing left, there is no point to this. Just let me die."

Roughly Vetra pulled Sindri to his feet and grabbed him by his shoulders hard enough for him to wince in pain.

"You are the most aggravating and the most selfless human I've ever known. Don't do this to yourself, not after what they did to you. They want you to die, you cannot give them the satisfaction."

Finding himself searching for words he didn't have Sindri hung his head as Sid shook his hand.

"Come home with us, you are cold. Are you hungry? We'll feed you."

Vetra's gloved fingers raised his chin to look at her.

"You saved my sister and me, and it cost you everything. This isn't a discussion. I am not going to let you fail. And we are not leaving you behind."


	5. A Quite House No Longer

Sindri tossed and turned in his bed as the heat of shame flashed across his face with a blush. He'd tried in vain to fall asleep but the memory of his banishment gored him like a raw wound in his chest. The feeling of wanting to fall on his long-knife slithered into his mind, unbidden, like a viper too dangerous to remove for fear of being bitten and too gruesome to ignore.

He wanted to die.

The emotion held him in a tangled heap under the covers unable to articulate a cry for help and too frightened that the instinct was not perhaps correct. Maybe dying would be the best outcome for everyone. He had no one. No home, no kin, no clan and now no future. If he couldn't carry on for the sake of a future within the clan then who did he have to live for? No Darskirri woman would have him, even as separate as he felt from the Darskirr on Mirrard there was comfort in knowing that he would be accepted as a suitor should he just try. And the siren call of hearth and home called him now with a more keening tone than he'd ever felt before in his life.

Then again, how humiliated would a wife and children of his own be if he'd done for the Turians as he had and then been banished?

A wife denied her husband and children robbed of their father and all for a pair of aliens he didn't even know.

Yes, this was the better way. He ought to be alone, it was what he chose and all he deserved.

To be and die alone.

Not to drag some poor woman and children with him, who deserved better.

On shaky legs, he stood up from his bed and paced his room in the gloom. He turned on his heel an inch short of stubbing his toes on his dresser before turning and pacing back to his bed. The restlessness inside him wouldn't settle and the revulsion inside him wouldn't let him concentrate. He needed to go, he needed to finish. Feverishly he kept pacing before settling down for a moment. His mind wandered to his Ka-98m rifle he had bundled away in his closet.

He stepped forward and narrowed his eyes in the dark as he fiddled with the combination lock on his steel locker, the numbers of which he could just make out in the scant light. With a louder _chank_ than he'd expected the heavy, ancient lock popped open and he looked inside. Even in the dark, he could still make out the unmistakable shape of his helmet; a relic from archaic times. Its sloped design and steel brim were carried over from wars long past now re-forged by Darskirri hands on Dubek, the only addition that gave away the clan of its owner was a chain veil that hung from the sides of the visor as to protect the wearer's face in the close hand to hand combat they expected to see.

They never did of course. The Turians never gave them the chance.

Sindri reached for his rifle and felt its wooden body and a calm came over him. This was his sword, his weapon. The only witness left to his village's destruction and his prowess in battle, scant as it was.

He slid the bolt back and picked up a clip of ammo where he knew he'd left it years prior and slotted it in before ramming the bolt home with a distinctive clack. Holding the rifle like a standard between his legs he leaned on it and breathed deep.

The sense of dying abated in its urgency as did his feeling of restlessness, an exit was in his hands and he could leave whenever he pleased.

"Sindri?"

The man jumped as his head snapped towards the door.

_Shit, I completely forgot they were home! What was I thinking?_

Panicking he quietly removed the ammunition from his rifle and stored it back in its place before walking to his door and making an aggressive attempt at seeming calm and as though he'd just woken up.

He opened the door to see Vetra standing before him. She wore her own pajamas this time, a loose fitting blue tunic with an ample collar and form fitting black spats; holding her omnitool forward as it produced light for her to see, her azure eyes widened as she looked at him.

Sindri was about to ask her why she was looking at him that way until he realized he'd answered the door in his undergarments so the full body of his injuries from war was on display.

His ears felt hot he closed the door for an instant before re-emerging wrapped in a thin sheet as he led Vetra back to the living room and away from his guest room (a barebones box with a cot, a table with no chairs and a door) where Sid slept next to his own room.

The pair stood awkwardly, neither sure of what to do or who should speak first. Falling back into his script as a host Sindri spoke up first.

"How can I help you, Ms. Nyx?"

Vetra chanced a glance at him before her mandibles quivered slightly out of nerves.

"I heard you stumbling around your room. What were you doing back there?"

Sindri felt a hot flash of embarrassment as he remembered the feeling of his rifle between his legs and its cold barrel sitting underneath his chin.

"I was stumbling. Couldn't sleep, so I had decided to pace in my room rather than to wake you." he responded sheepishly.

"Gotcha." said Vetra as she looked away towards the far blank wall in the dim living room.

The human looked at her for a long moment before a sense of propriety pushed him to place her needs to the forefront of his duties. She was a guest in his home after all.

"You couldn't sleep either. Why is this, may I ask? Is it something I can remedy?"

"I-I just wanted to make sure you were ok." Vetra responded, unsure of what to say or how it would sound.

"You were in rough shape when Sid and I followed you to the river. I was a little scared you'd try to hurt yourself."

Sindri smiled at her without mirth, "I'd never do that."

Vetra looked at him again as she shifted her weight.

"You have a funny outlook on lying for someone who values _personal honor and honesty_ so seriously."

"Excuse me?"

Vetra held up her hands at the elbow in a surrendering gesture.

"I'm not going to argue with you, but I'm starting to figure out when you are bullshitting me. And I don't believe you for a second."

"I am not going to kill myself, Nyx." Sindri insisted with narrowed eyes and a raised chin.

The Turian shook her head.

"Bullshit."

With a hiss and a glare dripping with anger in his eyes Sindri turned aside and opened a door connected to the living room, revealing a greenhouse with glass walls.

Vetra followed him into the room and looked about as he crouched and fiddled with an old brazier filled with dry wood and ashes. All about them were potted plants of various kinds and more than a few she didn't recognize arranged in staggered but orderly rows.

Sindri stuffed old paper and cedar shavings underneath logs and branches in the iron bowl as he nursed a flame from a lit match.

"And you know me well do you?"

The Turian's blue eyes looked at the human's silhouette as a flame began to catch in the brazier.

"Starting to, and I think you are gentler than you like to give away."

"Nonsense. I am a soldier, I killed a score of your kind."

Vetra swept her hand on the one wide wooden bench in the glass room and sat as she folded her legs comfortably.

"Lying again." she intoned calmly.

Sindri didn't turn to her and continued to build a fire.

"You are a soft touch."

At this, he turned his head at her with a venomous look.

"I'm not saying you weren't brave or that you can't fight. But you are not a soldier."

"Soldiers do their duty and they kill who they have to."

"And when given the choice they don't turn on the people they fought for-"

Sindri stood quickly and took a step towards her, Vetra stayed still and calm though her heart jumped in her chest. The anger in his eyes was palpable but when she considered his intent for an instant she decided that he wouldn't lay a hand on her.

"Or spend their days healing the people they fought against or giving them shelter."

At this, the human bristled.

"Don't you dare spit on what I've sacrificed or on my hospitality you-"

"I wasn't."

A silence stretched between them as the Turian held his gaze, unwavering. Sindri broke eye contact first and eventually turned back to the fire in the iron brazier behind him.

"I want to understand, Sindri. Why are you doing this?"

"Why do you care? We are strangers, come morning you will be gone and that will be the end of that."

With an irritable click of her mandibles, Vetra looked at the fire Sindri was staring into.

"Sindri, we don't have to fight just because you are hurt, I'm not going to think less of you for it. You just want me to tell you that we are going to abandon you and that you are right about everything."

The human did not answer her, nor did he turn around.

"But you are not. You don't have to die just because your people threw you away-"

"They didn't throw me away, Nyx."

With a turn of his head, his dark eyes looked back at Vetra.

"I left them."

"Which leads me back to my original question; why did you do it?"

Again he turned away from her again and sat in silence on the cold floor in front of the fire.

Vetra waited for his answer in the dark behind him and it was not forthcoming. She craned her head up and looked at the moons of Mirrard and the purple stardust that shone in the distant cosmos. A sense of responsibility pushed her off the bench and to sit next to him on the floor, after all he'd done she was not going to let him go. And she was not going to quit trying to save him.

"Sindri" she started again.

The human didn't turn his head.

"I mean it, I am not going to judge you. And I am not going to abandon you either, neither is Sid. We're not friends, but we aren't strangers. I just want to help you."

Searching for the words Vetra's mandibles fluttered, she was no good at speaking softly to anyone but Sid.

"Listen, you are making this really awkward-"

"Forgive me, Vetra Nyx."

The Turian took a second glance at the human next to her, his gaze into the fire seemed distant and disjointed.

"I never asked you for forgiveness for what I did at the pub. I am sorry."

"We're ok, Sindri. I got you back, remember?" said Vetra as she tried to sound jovial while gently reaching for the bruised skin around his eye.

With an exasperated sigh the human smiled.

"You certainly did."

The pair sat in silence.

"I knew your faces before I knew your names."

Vetra looked at Sindri, surprised by the turn in the conversation.

"The first time I saw you two was one the first days of summer. You two were walking around, gawking at all the trees and the old houses. Then you and Sid went to Calo Park and sat on the bench. Sid looked so unsure about joining the other children to play. She looked at you for permission then hopped off and went to ask some kids to play-"

"And later that day she met her first dog. The kids and she chased it all afternoon."

Sindri smiled despite the sadness glimmering in his eyes.

"When the sun began to set you joined in and chased her down before going home. You grabbed her and pulled her to you like you were going to get her something fierce, she was laughing."

Looking up at the stars Sindri sighed and an exhausted smile split his face.

"It was such a-"

As if catching himself Sindri looked back into the fire and quieted down again. Vetra leaned into him with the lightest touch before nudging him with her shoulder.

"You want to finish that thought?"

The man looked back at her.

"Human. It was such a human thing to observe."

At this, Vetra smiled. He'd said it with a sort of innocence, as though the observation and its veracity were a precious thing to him.

"Weren't expecting Turians to be playful did you?"

Sindri nudged her back as he turned his face away in embarrassment.

"Don't be ridiculous, children are children no matter the species. It was just a nice thing to see a loving parent and their child because even if you are sisters that is what you are. You are a respectable older sister and I like that."

Smiling softly Vetra thought back to the photograph she'd seen on his desk on the terrible night he'd brought her home. She wondered how much of his homelife informed how he behaved around kids. How despite his animosity towards the Turian race perhaps there was some upbringing that softened his behavior towards children.

"How many siblings did you have?"

Sindri froze for a split second before he looked at her and to Vetra's surprise, he answered.

"I had five siblings. I was the eldest."

"Must have been hard. So many kids in one place it must have been a loud house."

At this Sindri chuckled.

"A quiet house is a sad house, it is said amongst our people."

Vetra stretched her legs and scooted a little closer to the fire, turning her head she looked at the human pleasantly waiting for him to continue.

"To our people, family is all that matters because it is all that exists. Every role you take up is in service for one another. First to your spouse, then your children, then the family, then the clan, then the Darskirr. And it is a joy to do so. Why I remember when my father had me hold my little brother when he was born. I was four years old and he told me that I was the firstborn and through caring for him I'd learn to be a father and a man just as I'd learned to be a dutiful son."

"Sounds like a lot of responsibility to heap on a child."

With a smile on his face, Sindri shook his head.

"A man with no boundaries is not free, he is lost. Children crave structure, duty, responsibility. Through being told that I was to take part in raising my sisters and brothers I learned how to love my own and how to care for those in need of it. And I loved it, Vetra. My home was so noisy, it was full of chatty, happy people. The universe outside and its convoluted preoccupations meant nothing to us. Only the family matters because at the end of your life it is the only thing that will truly live on."

Vetra watched the human's eyes as they smiled with his face as he continued, pleased that she'd pulled him out of the hole he was in psychologically.

If only for a little while.

"I mean really, can you imagine a sadder thing than a home with no one in it? That's why big families are best, but it must be done correctly. You all live for one another, not for yourselves and expecting others to do for you. That is something I never had to deal with in my siblings as they grew up, they weren't selfish. But they had their troubles, my middle sister Mischa was much like Sid, she was disobedient at times and impetuous but she had a good heart. My mother intuited that she had too much restless energy so she bid my father take her with me and the boys earlier than would have been appropriate to learn how to dance."

"What do you mean to dance?"

"Ah, I'll explain; within the clans, it is understood that while men are the more physical sex women have better voices. So young women as a way to foment community are taught to sing and men having much less pleasant voices to the ear are taught to dance for the same effect."

"Are women forbidden from dancing or men from singing?"

"Goodness no, we are not backward. It is just a matter of fact, women are beautiful to listen to when they sing as it is a reflection of their souls as women. Men cannot emulate this, so as it was said on ancient Earth: it is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable."

Sindri grinned at her smugly.

"Mischa took to it like a bird does to the air. She was a wonderful dancer and the boys loved it, they thought it was such a novel thing for a girl to have the strength to dance as a man does. The girls, however, would make mischief for her when she'd join them to learn to sing as well. The meanest of the bunch, I forget her name, ripped a necklace mother made for Mischa just to cause her pain. My sister struck her, hard, just as father had taught her when dancing and that was the end of that."

"Your father taught Mischa how to throw a punch in dancing classes?"

At this Sindri looked at her curiously before thinking as to how to explain.

"Little boys are taught how to dance as the start to how to learn to fight. Dancing involves a lot of flexibility and exercise, we learn how to control our bodies and move with precision and endurance when it is needed as well as to maintain good balance. Then comes time to learn to use your fists and weapons. Mischa had no real aptitude for singing we learned but she had the energy to learn how to dance so we taught her as we would a boy. She was indistinguishable from us men, she was a Dancer. And she could leap and flip better than anyone of us."

"You sound so proud." smiled Vetra.

"I am. Mischa was so unconventional but I loved her for it, she would have made an imposing and beautiful woman and mother when her time came. She was honest and had a ferocious heart. But my favorite was my youngest brother Rin."

"What was he like?"

"Too soon to tell, but I liked what I saw. He was gentle and measured in everything he did, it proved unnecessary to teach him to share for he so delighted in sharing his food with his siblings and the dogs. Rin was such a sweet little boy, and though we all adored our father and mother he was especially attached to me. He'd follow me everywhere and liked to hold my hand and eat next to me during supper. Whenever it got too cold during the winter he'd come to sleep with me for warmth."

"I'd ask him: little boy why have you come? And he'd answer: I'm cold, Sindee!"

Sindri smiled wide and tears welled in his eyes.

"He thought it was the funniest thing in the world to turn my ears when I carried him on my shoulders only to discover that he could drive his older brother like one can a horse with a bit and reins in its mouth. And-a"

Vetra felt the air around Sindri change before the smile on his face died while his eyes remained fixed on the stardust up above.

"He was riding my shoulders when the Turian ships arrived."

Vetra withdrew her legs to her chest and held them, suddenly feeling very guilty and dreading the answer to what she'd wondered so many times before realizing he was a survivor of the First Contact War.

"I hate Turians so fucking much." he said as he exhaled with a bitter, silent snarl cutting across his face like a wound.

His fingers came to his eyes and he buried his face into his palms as his digits curled like claws. Vetra heard the earnestness in his statement and felt to her surprise, a little hurt.

"If you hate us so much, then why are you helping Sid and I?"

"Because of Callux."

Vetra's eyes fastened on the human, feeling very near to his secret.

"Because I loved Callux, he was my dearest friend and we mended together after the war. And despite being my one time enemy he lost his brother on Dubek and we both understood what the other was going through. No one else in Mirrard understands like he did. The Darskirr here hate without having lost anything. I lost my home and my family but I tried to build something new. Something good. And Nikita took that from me."

The man's hands dropped from his face and curled into fists at his side.

"Because I cannot bear the thought of allowing what the Turians did to me and mine be done by the Darskirr to you and yours."

Sindri looked back into the fire as he took a deep breath. His eyes darted from point to point by millimeters looking for words in the dancing flames and the burning wood.

"Because Turians are not monsters, they are just people. They are just like humans. That's why I want to help you and Sid. Because you don't deserve what Nikita and James wanted to do to both of you. Because in another life it could have been Rin and I and Ms. Vetra Nyx coming to our rescue."

Vetra felt her heart jump for an instant. The ponderous weight of Sindri's words reflected the conviction in his decision to choose exile over his own kin. And all for people of the same race that ruined his life, and after he'd befriended a Turian soldier who for all she knew had killed members of Sindri's family. He'd also spoken truthfully, he _loved_ Callux. It didn't surprise her now connecting the dots prior to what Sindri had told her that Nikita had something to do with Callux's murder. She felt a little welt of regret in her heart for having accused Sindri of having killed him.

But she knew now in her gut that Nikita had slain him and Sindri had taken the fall.

_If I ask him about that night, would he tell me the truth?_

Shaking her head, Vetra placed her hand on his shoulder unsure of what to say next.

"You are a good man, Sindri."

The human turned his head and looked her straight in the eyes.

"No. I'm not. I don't hate you Vetra, but it pleases me to hurt you." he replied with a smirk on his face.

The Turian sat quietly before her hand pulled Sindri closer to her and she hugged him lightly.

"You only hurt me because I let you. And I think its because losing Callux hurt you so badly you are terrified of allowing yourself to love Sid like you loved him."

Sindri shoved her away.

"Fuck you."

Without reproach or anger in her eyes, Vetra righted herself and dusted off her spats and curled her talons with little cracking pops from her feet.

"Fuck you too, Sindri. See you at breakfast."

"As if a woman like _you_ knows how to cook anything."

Vetra clapped him on the shoulder and slid back into the silent house tucking herself back into her resting place on the couch. Sindri stared into the fire for a long while, embarrassment tinging his ears red. He'd wanted a fight and Vetra refused to give him one. He hated the feeling of being handled then realized he'd been foolish for even offering the information he just had. What did it matter? He was going to die and they were going to leave.

Why tell her anything?

_Vetra isn't smarter than me. I hate this. She's making me feel stupid for contemplating suicide._

At this Sindri looked again at the stars above.

He suddenly felt very foolish and wanted to be away from Vetra, to be away from breathing the same air she did. Silently he stood from the brazier and stepped inside the living room to grab the sack of sand he kept by the sliding door to put it out.

"Can you leave the fire? The warmth is nice."

Sindri dropped the sack where he'd picked it up and glowered at the back of Vetra's head. Turning on his heel he skulked back towards his room.

"A quiet house is a sad house."

The human stopped short for a moment and looked back at the Turian who hadn't turned over to look at him.

"I like that. Now that I think about it I really wouldn't trade all the headaches Sid's given me for anything in the universe.-"

With a stretch she turned over to look at him with her blue eyes.

"Speaking of which; when do you want Sid and me out of here?"

Sindri turned around and walked away.

"I'm not hearing a no."

Quietly but firmly the human shut his door. Behind it Sindri's face contorted with rage as he ran his fingers through his hair.

_"Gods help me, someday I'm going to beat her until she shits herself."_

-0-

Vetra cursed at herself quietly while in Sindri's kitchen as she tried in vain to figure out how most of the things in his refrigerator were meant to be cooked. Nothing seemed familiar and nothing was labeled by universal indicators like protein or starch carbohydrate or sugar so as to hint to their flavor or use. In a plastic container she saw meat, or at least she hoped that was what it was. Underneath that, she found several small bags with a variety of what she presumed were alien vegetables (human greens looked so inedible) and a few containers of what she initially mistook to be weeds.

Pulling out one of the containers she read the word "Arugula" out loud.

It sounded like a spaceship's name. Maybe the label was for the ship from where the container had come from before Sindri filled it with weeds? But why would he put them in there if he couldn't eat them? Why put them with his food? She popped open the lid and sniffed. They smelled earthy and bitter.

Medicine maybe?

Peeking around the corner she gestured to her sister who was restlessly rearranging her makeshift bed on the couch so all three of them could sit on it. Quickly skipping over, Sid looked at Vetra and the container in her hand.

"What do I do with this? I don't know what anything in the kitchen is."

Sid looked at the container's blue lid.

"Oh, I saw him stuff some of those leaves in his mouth then we were cooking breakfast. He had them with a pair of those eggs in the brown box after frying them."

"Can you help me make him something to eat?"

Sid beamed and opened Sindri's refrigerator before pulling out all the things Sindri had used a day prior to feed himself. Thinking hard she began to lay out the substances as she remembered them on his iron skillet.

Taking another look around the corner she looked at Sindri as he sat fully dressed on her couch-bed with an empty look of consternation on his face. At a glance, she guessed that he was trying to figure out what he should do with himself, and them maybe. It had been a heartwrenching thing to hear him cry out for death the day before, moreso to find him on his knees by that lonely river. She wished Sid hadn't heard it, but she'd taken it in stride. Sid was consumed with trying to make Sindri happy. Undoubtedly it would be a hard thing to explain to a ten-year-old; the depth of what exile meant to humans and the Darskirr in particular.

Truthfully it was something she didn't fully understand. How such an outwardly hard and internally resilient person could be reduced to suicidal despair over being kicked out of his own family in under a day. But at least now she understood his motivations for doing so. Or rather his conviction, which was startling in a way. Loyalty to the clan was superseded by personal ethics. This was a rare trait to find in a person.

_Sid and I didn't really have a family. Maybe that's why I don't get it. But what do I say to him? He's not in shape to do anything._

But at the very least he'd openly told her about his family yesterday and about Callux. And she could feel it in her bones that he did indeed love Sid. He just wasn't ready to admit it to himself or anyone else. She was not sure how he felt about her, however. There were times when she had felt genuine tenderness in his concerns and actions and other times where he'd displayed genuine viciousness towards her. Perhaps he would project his feelings for her entire species onto her personally when he felt the urge but she was convinced that yesterday night was in a way a cry for help because despite her goading he wouldn't outright say he wanted to be rid of them. The absence of a response betrayed his true feelings.

But his ambivalence to be hot or cold with her was rage-inducing and she hated it.

Looking back at her sister who was seemingly successfully emulating Sindri's processes in the kitchen she gave the little Turian a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder and walked over to the human.

Without prompting Sindri began speaking as if they had been carrying on a conversation half way through.

"Today is the first day of the week. I'd be happy to drive you and Sid to work and school. I'd be happy to drop all of your things back at your habitation block as well."

Vetra looked at him for a long moment.

"What will you do afterward?"

Sindri remained silent for a long moment in turn.

"I don't know."

No words passed between them for a long moment until Sid broke the pause by announcing the food would be ready soon.

"Sindri,-" Vetra began, unsure of herself or how she'd sound to him.

"I was wondering if you would come with Sid and I off-world once we work up enough money to leave?"

The human blinked hard and looked back at her apathetically.

"Why?"

"Well, if you were exiled and the Darskirr are not going to deal with you we might as well-"

"No, I mean why are you inviting me to leave with you? I am exiled. My life has no point anymore."

Vetra breathed deeply and narrowed her eyes against the white wall. She was not going to get through to him, she realized, if she invited or suggested.

The Darskirr were not polite in this manner. They wanted to belong, to be told to whom and how they belonged. Speaking his language was the key she realized, even if it seemed rude to her own ears. Or silly for that matter.

"Sindri, we owe you a debt of gratitude for what you have done. It would be- unworthy- if we did not repay it."

"You don't owe me anything."

"Yes we do, and we are not leaving until the debt has been repaid. Our, eh, honor demands it."

At this, he looked up at her.

"I release you of whatever debt you feel you-"

"Oh, no you don't." Vetra began thinking back at how he'd raise his chin at her and assumed an air of arrogant disdain and aped it as convincingly as she could.

"I know you are not pig-headed enough to insult us just to avoid the repayment of a not-so imaginary debt between us just because you were exiled. Whatever your grandmother decided means nothing to us and I meant what I said: you gave up your life with the Darskirr to save ours. We are not leaving you behind."

Clicking her fingers at him in the gesture of a gun she poked him in the chest and added "You shit-wit."

With a quick exhalation that passed as a sign of humor and a smile that passed for sincere the human looked at her with saddened eyes.

"I appreciate the effort you are making to save me, but it is done. I am done."

At this Vetra looked at him, unsure of what he'd reply or anyone for that matter to what she thought was the right thing to say.

"Ok, how about you postpone being done and take it one day at a time. Sid and I need you. And she'd be heartbroken if something happened to you."

"So you want me to stick around until you two leave Mirrard, correct?"

"No. I want you to come with us and stay."

"And do what?"

With a shrug, Vetra broke eye contact as she felt a little blush flash past her face at how embarrassing the request sounded to her ears.

"Live."

Sindri looked at her and eventually she returned his gaze.

"Fine."

Nodding her head Vetra cleared her throat.

"Good."

"I will ask you one thing however."

The Turian looked at Sindri again.

"I read somewhere that _your_ kind have a great sense of personal accountability. Are you doing this because you feel responsible for me? Or because you care about me?"

Vetra felt a mild heat under her faceplates. She felt annoyed.

"You are an asshole. But you are a good man. I don't know what you and I are but I trust you and Sid certainly loves you. After you destroyed whatever life you had left with your own in order to protect us I can't let you go. So like it or not you are stuck with me and the kid."

Sid came bounding out of the kitchen with a hot plate to Sindri as she smiled wide and pleased with herself.

"I made breakfast! It's meat and eggs and arugula weed."

The human held the plate and looked at it without appetite. Grabbing the fork the little Turian offered he took a big bite out of the dinner and smiled with full cheeks before swallowing.

"Your sister has asked me to come live with you two permanently."

Sid squeaked and jumped on Vetra.

"Really?! Really?! Sindri's going to live with us? Our apartment is super tiny!"

"You two can stay here with me, no problem."

Vetra tried very hard to imagine ill intent from Sindri but found that it was just that: hard to imagine.

The little Turian sat on the couch and latched onto his arm before squeezing it tight.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've never lived in a house before!"

With a little genuine happiness in his eyes, Sindri patted her back and looked at her big sister.

"It'd certainly make for a loud house. And it'd be nice to have some company. You know, to live with."


	6. Of Gods and Darskirr

Vetra squinted at her omnitool with acrimonious doubt as she sat at the dinner table in the space by Sindri's open kitchen where he hummed contentedly as he prepared dinner.

Breathing deeply and looking again at the numbers and percentages and the tool's math as well as her own made down on paper, the timetable they presented looked very poor. If she and Sindri combined their income and avoided all major overhead and expenses as well as any medical emergencies or anything that would necessitate repairs to his vehicle and did the minimum for that ever-present concern with eating; at best they could save the raw fortune needed to relocate to another planet wholesale in five to seven years depending on proximity and where they chose to live. And it would be double that time to leave the Uldin System.

The latter seemed preferable.

She felt deeply unsafe with the Darskirr about and unnervingly they were present on all habitable planets in the solar system.

The prospect seemed daunting, even if she reached out to the Turian embassy on Palaven for tax exemptions and credits to speed up the relocation process. But she felt that since the Darskirri clans and the Turians were not in open war the bureaucracy wouldn't be inclined to act quickly on their behalf. And that of course left the question of Sindri.

What was she going to do with him?

Vetra didn't regret telling him that he was to come with them. He was a good man even if he was mean about it. But she was genuinely at a loss as to how he'd adapt to living in space or on another planet. Would a human be happy living with a pair of Turians? Could he be happy and healthy or would he fall into a deep depression and wither, being away from his own species and kinsmen?

And past that, the idea of adding to their family of two just seemed wrong.

It had always been just Vetra and her sister. And she had to be strong enough for both of them then but now, there was another adult in the room and she needed to contend with what he wanted. Not that having Sindri wouldn't have enormous benefits, having an in-house medical professional with combat experience and strong principles looked great in abstract terms. But what did that look like day to day? What would it look like in the future?

She snapped her eyes away from her orange display and to Sindri's own as she felt his hand on the nape of her neck where he gave her a gentle squeeze.

His expression was patient but firm.

"Put that contraption away, it is time for supper."

With a sigh, she swiped at the keyboard and the display vanished.

"I don't understand why you insist on banning electronics at the table."

"You know why."

"It's not like we don't text each other during the day you know."

"This is not the same as being present for one another and speaking."

Whatever words she had bubbling up from her guts were washed away as she caught the scent of the steaming meal he'd served her. Her mouth watered as she looked at the steamed shade-stalks, mashed brommi and farruk meat he'd sautéed up and not without a small amount of sahroon powder. He handed her a cloth napkin and cutlery as he spared another similar plate for her little sister who sat in her chair patiently with a smile and quivering mandibles.

With a cut and a bite, Vetra relished the peppery taste of the brommi and the savory aroma of the meat.

She closed her eyes and she was back on Palaven sitting at her parent's dinner table.

It hurt her to think about how to tell Sindri that he should stop buying fresh produce for their benefit (not that she ever asked nor did he), especially since the food was so good.

Since the first awkward week they moved into Sindri's home and the subsequent months she'd found a comfortable rhythm with the man. Seeing him now in his own home where maintaining pretenses or distance would be exhausting she found him to be surprisingly sweet. Time spent in proximity to one another suggested to her that much as he'd revealed when speaking on his relations within his family on Dubek; Sindri defined himself and his behavior in taking care of others.

And this meant that he'd treat them as family, and quickly too.

He hadn't asked or been asked but within the day they settled in he'd made a huge purchase of dextro-compatible produce and began to prepare lunches and meals for the entire week for all three of them. He rearranged Vetra's couch and re-dressed it as a serviceably reasonable bed and further improved Sid's own arrangements of boxes and where clothing or toys were to be put away. Right away he'd also begun to inculcate good behaviors into her sister, she'd noticed. Folding clothes, cleaning rooms and always making yourself of service to others in the household.

Every day, laundry would be done and dinner would be cooked.

In quick order, he'd assigned them responsibilities and taken over others entirely. Sid had been assigned the care of the greenhouse and its plants as well as helping scrub the kitchen with Sindri- as she was being taught how to cook as all little boys and girls should know how- to which she took to with surprising enthusiasm. And Vetra had been charged maintaining the bathroom as needed and keeping the living room clean and tidy.

Fair enough. Especially considering it was her room.

Sindri had taken full possession of cooking however having expressed that it was 'men's work'.

She'd bristled at him then but also felt a mild confusion at being discouraged from kitchen-work because of her sex. Granted he hadn't been derogatory about it, just very matter-of-fact. Feeding friends, guests, and family seemed to be a male responsibility as far as the Darskirr were concerned.

It was hard to be upset with him or to turn him away sometimes.

"Did I tell you? I did really good with the quiz you and Vee helped me study for." exclaimed out Sid, between chewing mouthfuls of brommi.

"Show me." replied Sindri with an even tone and glance.

Vetra noticed how he turned to Sid and raised his chin just enough that he would look down at her, then how he turned up both his palms at her on his lap without raising his arms. She'd realized over time that Sindri knew more about Turian body language than he'd ever confessed. It was perhaps why she'd found it so strange that she could either find him utterly infuriating or likable and friendly. Which of course he had a gift for being either but the eye contact, the posture, and arms, and how he held himself; he'd been communicating with her the way another Turian would have without her having realized it right away. She wondered if he'd picked up the knowledge from Callux before he'd died.

_Before he was murdered._

Sid looked at Sindri and lowered her head in reply and her mandibles hugged her jaw tight. She got up and scampered away to her bare room quickly to dig out her report card before returning; her head still lowered as she stepped up to him and placed it in his open palm. Nervously, she fidgeted as he looked it over with his expression placid and unreadable. Vetra understood the sub communication between them. Sindri spoke to and acted towards Sid like a social superior as his status as a healer and an adult would indicate and she slipped into the role of a child seeking praise.

The little Turian respected him and wanted his approval.

With a slight tilt of his head forward and a warm smile, Sindri looked at her anew.

"Outstanding, Sid. Well done."

With a little chirp of delight and a splayed set of mandibles, Sid tilted her face forward and Sindri stroked the crown of her skull as she set her forehead into the crook of his shoulder. Vetra looked at the pair for a long moment as Sid's eyes hung half open and her pupils were pinning as Sindri stroked the space underneath her frill just right and she swayed with his hand's movements. Her mind went unbidden to wondering if she'd looked like this with her father when she'd been seeking or craving his praise or approval after having earned it.

"Aww, aren't you sweet. Ever wonder if you missed your calling as a teacher, Bogatyr?"

"Probably not, I love children but I have no patience for the bad ones, I'm afraid."

Forking another bite of her food Vetra again closed her eyes.

_Spirits this is so good._

For a moment Sid pushed away from the human but kept her hands on his shoulders.

"Sindri, do humans like hugs?"

"They do, it just depends on who is giving the embrace."

"Do you like it when Vee and me hug you?"

"Love it. It is very reassuring."

With enthusiasm, the little Turian slung her arms around Sindri's neck and pulled him tight. He sincerely smiled even as he winced uncomfortably as she swayed him from side to side equating the strength of the hug with the relative affection she was trying to express. His face turned a little red.

"If I may ask, what had you looking so sour at your contraption?"

At this Vetra rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I'm irritated with the math. Even if we maximize all of our advantages it'll take us years to get out of Mirrard and move somewhere else."

Sid shot back up and with a very real quiver of agitation of from her mandibles, she looked at her sister.

"I don't want to leave again, I like living here with Sindri."

"I don't want to move again either, kiddo. But with the Darskirr being around we might have to start thinking about other planets to live on."

"Vetra."

A smile reached Sindri's eyes as he felt Sid put his hand back on her head so he could continue scratching her.

"Despite how things happened we are not unsafe in Grennik. Believe it or not, there are laws and rules to dealing with exiles and the like."

"I disagree. James and Nikita knew what the rules were but they led me to Old Jinn anyway. You cannot expect them to follow the rules now that you've been pushed out of the clan completely."

Something sour flashed across Sindri's face before he buried it.

Looking at Sid and then back at Vetra he sighed quietly.

"Would it please you to move out of Grennik, while we gather what we need?"

"Yes it would _please_ me. You weirdo."

At this he smiled.

"Well, I know of a few places out in the woods where we can make some credits. In my travels, in the woods, I've found more than a dozen wrecks from satellites and ships we can-"

"Wait, WHAT? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Sindri blinked at her.

"I'm telling you now."

-0-

The morning after the human had described where he'd found an old satellite, Vetra was not sure what she'd expected when he described a 'daytrip' into the forest. But she was sure she was not expecting him to be dressed quite so ridiculously. It was all she could do to try and exhale and not laugh as she shook her head as to wipe away the wide smile working its way onto her face. Sindri stood by his rugged vehicle dressed in what she imagined was the "warrior" garb of his native moon. He wore formfitting boots with tough canvas spats that reached his shins and his torso was hidden beneath a brown, umber poncho with darker serpentine patterns stitched onto it. Along the ends of which were many tassels that were in various states of stress and faded color, so much use had this shawl seen over the years. But most ridiculous was the absolutely archaic rifle which hung across Sindri's chest from a genuine leather strap and veiled chain helmet which sat on his head. The gun itself was not at all like her Cyclone automatic rifle (which she'd acquired illegally). His gun's stock and body were made of reddish wood and the barrel itself had a steel attachment from which she imagined he could slot his longknife as a bayonet, effectively making his rifle a short spear.

"And so, my darling, I'm going to give you the keys to the house. You remember what I told you?"

"Don't go past the field into the forest. Don't open the door for any humans except Amanda and to call Vee on her omnitool if there are any problems."

"Very good. And don't look so glum, I'm not taking you into the deep forest yet because you are too young still and the woods are serious business."

Vetra winced at how hard Sid glared at the two of them as she wordlessly took the keys and turned on her heel to go back into the house. It wasn't the first time she'd left Sid alone for a day or two and mercifully her sister had more sense to avoid trouble when she was alone than with company but it did still sit poorly with her at times. The little Turian was not at all pleased with the prospect of being excluded from a treasure hunt in the forest because of her age. It took many reassurances from Sindri that he'd take her on an adventure soon after this one to get her to stop being unbearably sulky and catty.

With a frown Sindri laid his rifle in the rig as did Vetra along with their backpacks and she jumped into the passenger seat.

Both observed Sid as she walked back into the house and shut the door without looking back.

"Didn't even get a hug goodbye. We are in so much trouble."

"Yeah." breathed Vetra as she chewed her lip, tryin to suppress her smile.

"You packed what I asked you to? The forest is-"

"Serious business, I heard. Do we really need guns to head into a little holiday in the forest?"

"Yes we do. Worgs and harpies are trouble if you are not careful."

"That is not what those are called and you know it."

"Yeah but, Red Mirrardi Fluschork is such a mouthful."

"So you and yours insist on calling wildlife by whatever Earthling mythological creature they resemble the most?"

"Yes, now shut up. When we reach the woods we'll dismount and go marching in. It shouldn't take us a whole day to reach the campsite but I want to arrive before sunset so we can hit the treasure site before dark."

"Why can't we just drive the rig up there?"

"Woods are too thick and the hill where it rests is too steep."

As Sindri pulled out of his hidden road he turned his vehicle towards the road to Pavoka and drove.

"Anything I should know about the woods and the 'serious' business."

"Don't run from Worgs, they are attracted to cowardice like flies to shit. Just do as I do and follow my instructions and you'll be fine."

"What's the worst thing we could run into?"

Cupping his chin with his right hand around the veil the human squinted in thought.

"A big worg pack most like. But the most unlucky thing would be a bear."

"Those are the omnivorous quadrupeds. The big ones."

"Just so, and that's why I had us go in armed." he replied with a smirk as he accelerated hard on a steep but sudden drop in the hilly road before quickly ascending and achieving a brief weightlessness. Vetra's eyes bugged out for a moment as she suddenly gripped the car and his seat.

"Stop that!"

"But why? Tormenting you is so much fun."

**-0-**

Sindri knew Vetra was laughing at him.

He'd done nothing to jest about, most likely she'd found his mode of dress ridiculous. It was fine. Her mode of dress was actually worthy of mockery. She wore formfitting clothing that left nothing to the imagination of other Turians he was sure and when at home she often wore tunics with wide brimmed and open collars that showed a good deal of skin where cleavage would be on a human.

It was immodest.

Did other Turians think so?

Maybe. But this was not the only thing she did which confused his efforts to categorize her. For one, she certainly could drink him under the table if she tried. And she cursed, hard and often when genuinely angry. Another un-ladylike quality. At times he'd wondered if Vetra was someone the Turians would look down on in Palaven. Certainly being an urchin, effectively, who didn't finish bootcamp was worthy of some derision. But these were things she hadn't achieved because of circumstance. What about her character? Over time he'd struggled to figure out how he wanted to think of her. While she certainly had her merits and they were undeniable, she surprised him frequently. She was not a lady in proper terms. Vetra had the air of a hard woman, despite being in the spring of her youth. And she could throw a punch like a boxer, he knew that first hand.

Regardless, he had tried to suspend his expectations of what constituted womanly behavior since he'd arrived on Mirrard a decade prior as his interactions with both aliens and non-Darskirri had increased. But he still struggled at times. There was a proper way to do things for both men and women and so often these mores were violated by the universe at large, he'd learned to adapt. These were his people's ways after all, no theirs. But he could judge.

Sindri smiled under his veil as Vetra cursed after being smacked again in the face by yet another branch he'd pushed out of the way.

_Oh yes, you are definitely not a lady Ms. Nyx._

"Spirits help me, if I get slapped in the face by one more fucking branch!"

"Not hovering right behind me would help. You are basically walking right into them."

The Turian grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed ahead angrily through the snowy and dense web of branches and into the clearing they were moving into as she patted the snow off her clothing in frustration.

"You are so helpless when you are out of your element, Ms. Nyx. It is actually kind of cute." he said as he brushed off snow off her jacket's leather shoulders with the fondness that he found was increasingly finding him easier and easier as time went on living with the Turian.

"Oh, I bet you are loving this. How often do you get to show off how smart and capable you are? I mean, in between emptying bedpans at the clinic."

"Don't know if you were informed, but I happened to gallantly save a little Turian girl's broken leg a few months ago. Young women love that story."

"I bet, too bad the only ones who have heard it are Sid and I."

At this Sindri exhaled sharply as laughter bubbled up from his guts but didn't find his lungs.

Regardless of whether she was a hard woman or immodest he couldn't deny how much he came to enjoy her.

Vetra wiped the last drops of melted snow off her faceplates as she turned from the human and looked around the clearing.

The reasons for how or why it had come to be were not clear, but there was a powerful sort of quiet in this large ring between the trees. Each pine sat heavy with delicate mounds of snow on each shelf of branches dressing each tree in heavy layers of sound swallowing ice. Inside the ring itself there was a thick layer of fluffy, dense moss the kind of which grew in small patches in the gardens of Grennik. So greedy for water this moss was and so dense was its surface that it alone dominated the clearing in its shade of furious green. All around her there was this deep silence and none of the garbled cacophony that she'd gotten so used to on the way up the hills. She stood and listened and only the intermittent winds kissed the snowcapped pines causing a creaking susurrus in the ring.

It was as though she could hear the breath of Mirrard.

Turning her head back to her companion she saw him. Hands clasped, eyes closed and head bowed.

"What are you doing?"

"Praying, the Gods live here. And I should very much like good fortune in our journey."

Vetra awkwardly shifted her weight as she looked around for what she should say next.

"I'm not the praying type. And for a man of medicine I am surprised you are."

"If the Gods do exist I should exalt them through good acts and honorable conduct. If they do not I would have lived a good life exalting myself through good acts and honorable conduct."

"Seems like a cop out but ok. Praying to forest gods seems silly to me."

At this the human opened his eyes and looked at her. Rather than indignancy or reproach his eyes squinted with smug confidence.

"Be mindful of what you say, He is right behind you and He understands what we say."

"Ok, now I know you think I am an idiot-"

Vetra stopped mid sentence as a blast of hot breath enveloped her and with a little shriek she bounded into the human and held onto him as she reached for her rifle. Noiselessly a truly enormous quadruped had snuck up on her without her having heard its approach. The beast had a long and tremendously thick, silken coat and branchlike horns. It's thick black eyes studied her inscrutably, or stupidly, as its moist blue nose took in another deep breath of air. It stepped forward on scaly legs with four digits in dainty silence as its tongue flicked through the air then onto its snout.

Sindri gently grabbed onto Vetra's arm and shook his head at her to let go of her weapon. With a smile he stepped forward and kneeled in front of the beast and offered his hand for it to reservedly sniff.

"Sindri, no!"

"Hush, Vetra. It is alright."

"What is that thing?" she hissed, still holding onto Sindri's poncho's collar to pull him away.

"Grandfather of the Forest."

"Sindri, could you stop being Darskirr for one second and answer my fucking question?!" she hissed more sharply.

The enormous beast stepped forward and sniffed quickly before pressing its forehead into his arm. Ridiculously, the human stood up and vigorously scratched the animal's head and under its jaw.

"Vetra, come to me. Let me introduce you."

Shaking her head she took a step backward.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Suit yourself _Turian_." he barbed her.

She scowled at the human.

"Forgive her, Grandfather. She is afraid. She'd rather remember this moment as one where she gave in to fear rather than-"

Quietly he turned his head and looked at the hand she placed on his shoulder for reassurance before she stepped up next to him. Now turning the human looked at her with a little obvious pride and a warm smile that reached his eyes. Sindri gave her hand a squeeze before he took her glove off and offered her hand to the giant Grandfather.

The beast took a deep breath, taking in the new scent then stepped forward, demanding more scratches. With a shaky laugh Vetra stepped forward with a little resistance as Sindri guided her to the beast by her waist and placed her second hand on its head under the chin.

"He is a Mirrardi Black Mulmak, we Darskirr call them Sable Elks. He is a very old bull reaching the end of his life."

"How did you meet him?" she breathed nervously as she felt Grandfather's soft coat.

"Grandfather lives in this area. I met him during my explorations. He is a very wise old man."

"H-how did you figure that out?"

"He's a great listener."

**-0-**

For hours afterwards, Vetra followed in the wake of Sindri and his enormous companion. It seemed so surreal to her, the image of this ridiculous man walking abreast with this enormous beast and how gingerly it yielded to Sindri's guiding palm as he pushed or pulled it to the flattest and least cluttered paths through the woods. Did it have poor eyesight?. And as they went Sindri carried on an animated and (thankfully) one sided conversation with the ancient Grandfather. He spoke to him about his life, the Turians and all the events of the last few seasons. Sindri even paused politely as Grandfather snorted or grumbled some throaty intonation.

"Do you really believe Grandfather is a god?"

Laying his hand on the beast as if to ask him to hold his tongue and pause the conversation he looked back at the Turian following them.

"The spark of divinity is in all things. Places, people and things. He is no different."

"Yeah but do you believe he is a god?"

Thoughtfully the human nodded without a hint of irony.

"And why shouldn't I? He has experienced my lifetime several times over, He is master of all He surveys and could crush my home by merely charging through it. And Gods save you if you are ever faced with a stampeding Sable Elk."

"Do you worship him?"

"I've asked and He has yet to indicate his preferences. But He does love chocolate."

"So you domesticated a wild animal, good job. That doesn't make him a god."

With a flap of his wrist and a click of his tongue the human kept walking with his woolly companion.

"Vetra, Grandfather is not a pet. He and I understand one another, I visit through his territory and he let's me know when I am welcome and when I am not."

"Sindri, this is just too ridiculous."

"What is?"

"Everything." she said as emphatically as she could.

"Listen, I'm not trying to be mean but the clothing, the gun, Grandfather and the act. You don't have to try so hard to impress me."

At this Sindri stood still before turning to look at her with an expression she couldn't read. Grandfather advanced a few meters before halting and looking back to see why his travelling companion had stopped walking.

Briefly, Vetra wondered if he'd taken offense. But reasonably he had to be playing a joke on her, trying to take her in with the native Darskirr persona and the admittedly impressive achievement of taming such a huge animal. All this talk of Gods and such was too much. He had to be playing a joke on her.

"What makes you think I want to impress you?"

"Don't act like you don't know how you look. This trick with Grandfather is pretty slick, I'll grant you, but the whole get up and trip into the wood-"

"I am not trying anything. This is what we wore on Dubek and there is no _trick_ to Grandfather. He tolerates my intrusions, I am but a small thing in his world and so are you."

"Pretty sure it doesn't matter how small I am if I can put a hypersonic round in his eye at two hundred meters."

At this Sindri rolled his eyes.

"Vetra, your first instinct upon seeing Grandfather was to reach for your gun. Do you have any idea how few people get this close to one of his kind?"

"That's not a reason to worship an animal as a god! I can kill him for spirit's sake."

"The idea that gods cannot die is just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Of course they can die you ding-dong. And besides, if I hadn't goaded you in introducing yourself you wouldn't have had this great memory that you'll remember for the rest of your life. That's what being Darskirri is about; living."

"Living like the people you left, you mean."

His umber eyes narrowed.

"What are we arguing about Ms. Nyx?"

Vetra felt a touch deflated as she sheepishly kicked a stone away from under her boot.

"Nothing. I just think it's silly for you to dress that way, or worship forest animals and roleplay like you were born a thousand years ago."

To her surprise he smiled and walked within arm's reach of her, for a quiet moment he said nothing before grabbing her arms and giving her a little squeeze.

"I would have been happy to be this ridiculous alone or with a crowd. And that I've been exiled does not mean I forget who I am or where I came from. Being Darskirr is about living, truly living. Because really, where would you be if you didn't have any of your modern contraptions and were lost out here in the woods?"

"Oh not this shit again, Sindri. Don't reduce everything to the most spartan and fatalistic denominator just to have your lifestyle make sense. You are just a guy in the woods wearing a poncho talking to an animal. It'd be less weird if you were doing drugs."

"Vetra." he began with a smile.

"I will always fall short of the ideals of my people, but I want to keep trying. And _roleplaying_ like I was born a thousand years ago is what pushed me to do the honorable thing and protect a pair of Turian sisters instead of cowering because believe you me, Ms. Nyx, cowardice is a worse fate than death. And besides, you don't need to wear my garb, or live as I do, or worship my gods because at the end of the day you and I don't need to agree."

Stepping away from her with a wink and ambling up to Grandfather he called out to her as she looked at her own two feet awkwardly.

"Oh, and screw you. My mother made me this poncho."


	7. To Live, Truly Live

In spite of her aching legs and the cold trek to Sindri's hidden shelter, Vetra had to admit that the view was beautiful even if it was a little unsettling. The deep forest had a sort of noisy quietness to them with the fauna making the racket it does going about its business while drowning out any sign or idea of civilization by the all-encompassing vastness of the ancient woods.

Nothing existed but the trees and snow.

A break came in the pines as they came across a rocky outcropping, the path through it ran in the middle of a pair of stony crags, one of which had a zigzag flattening of rocks up its face and into a small cave set about ten meters off the ground. The pocket in the stone was filled with dirt and a nice bed of moss except for the spot where a brazier had been placed and obviously seen great use. From the cave, she could see the small elk trail vanish into the wilds as did Grandfather after walking into it, finally parting from his human companion.

Further out still was a half-frozen lake which gleamed with soft light from the dying rays of the sun as the distant roar of the waterfall that crowned it disturbed the surface of its dark waters. She stood on the lip of the cave for a long moment taking in the snowy expanse of the landscape before her and a heavy sense of solitude. She and Sindri might as well have been the only two people on Mirrard.

True to his word the human had brought a scant few items with him, primarily food and ammunition but no water having explained that carrying it was burdensome when they could simply eat or warm the abundant snow. To her surprise, the rest of the heavy gear she expected they would need was in a small crate hidden towards the back of the cave. In moments he'd laid out a soft blanket and a pair of sleeping bags as well as several pots and pans and a compact frame to set them on and created a small but serviceable encampment within the cave.

Now as when she'd met Grandfather she felt entirely out of place and nervously unsure of what to do, say, or where to stand. Sindri neither asked for help nor offered her something to do to build their shelter. A life lived on space stations and modern worlds had robbed her of any idea of what was practical or what she could be doing now for their preparations.

A sense of foolish uselessness came upon her. She didn't want to be; she wanted to carry her weight and help him, but pride and history bit her tongue for her. Would he mock her for her species, sex, or lifestyle if she was not practiced at whatever task she was assigned?

She wondered.

Minutes passed as she watched him work, Vetra's concerns muted and she noticed the practiced hand Sindri handled with his tools and the seriousness with which the strapped a tarp and pinions to part of the entrance in order to deflect wind away from the belly of the cave. As he began to finish his knots and ties for the tarp he gestured by the large waterfall which fed the lake in the distance.

"If we leg it up to the waterfall I can bring you to the wreck and back before nightfall. You think you are up for it, _woman?_"

Taking a sip from her canteen, Vetra appraised him a smirking glance.

"Yes I am, are you, _old man?_"

-0-

Sindri's pace was tireless.

With a mild sense of urgency, he'd guided her up a very steep but heavily wooded incline up and around the waterfall by using the trees themselves as handholds. He'd push and swing himself between trees to pack as much momentum as he could in his movements upwards rather than long, firm, but nervous steps like his Turian companion. So far he'd kept pace behind Vetra and more than once she'd stalled or staggered when finding a grip or foothold only to feel Sindri's hand on the small of her back giving her a reassuring push upwards or towards a better angle. After the third near slip, she'd stopped paying any mind to where his hand was or what his view was like trying to push her clumsy ass up a steep wooded hill. She thought for a moment about teasing him about being careful not to have his hand slip or she'd crush him but thought better of it.

He thought Turians hideous as it was. No need to call his attention to it.

Besides, he was helping her like she was a child.

Before long she'd reached the lip of the hill and with another heaving pull Vetra brought herself over it. Trying hard to catch her breath, the Turian dusted off her hands and turned to offer help to her companion as the human bounded up to her using a pine tree as a springboard. She could see his smile under his veil as he looked around and back at her.

"Are you having fun?"

Shaking her head the Turian tried hard to hide a frown in spite how starved for air she felt and how her legs were burning. He didn't even need her to help him up the edge of a hill.

"No."

"You look like you are having fun. Have you ever been out in the wilds before?"

"Not on this planet no."

"Well, I should show you the sights tomorrow. I love being out here."

"I can tell."

At this, Sindri unclipped half of his chain to reveal his face.

"Why are you being curt with me?"

"I'm winded, cold, and tired. Let's just get the wreck and go back to the cave."

"Vetra, you simply must learn to relax. Enjoy just _being_ here."

"Sindri, I mean it. Let's just get what we came for and go."

Unsatisfied the human turned on his heel with a half-smile.

"This way."

The pair walked in silence for a few moments longer as the crunch of snow beneath their boots marked their passage through the crest of the roaring falls.

"I have a question, Vetra Nyx."

At this the Turian pursed her lips, she'd learned over time that Sindri typically began invasive conversations this way.

"Do Turians have a word for what you and I are?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've been having difficulties in deciding how to treat you or how to think of you."

Vetra knitted her brow in confusion, she wasn't sure if this was a prelude to another strange Darskirri preoccupation or another one of his verbal barbarisms.

"How do you think you should treat me then?"

"Like kindred."

"I am **not** going to call you my brother."

"No, I don't mean that. I mean, what would you call us?"

"Roommates."

"That doesn't sound right, considering what we've been through."

"Sindri, I'm not going to pretend that I agree with your choices even though I am thankful, and I am, for your intention and all that you've done. The whole exile thing seems like such an overreaction to me. But as I said, we aren't abandoning you, one day we'll leave this planet and you've agreed to come with us. That's enough."

"I don't think so."

"Why?"

"Because I so hate this feeling. Of not being rooted, of being nameless."

"You aren't nameless. You are Sindri Bogatyr, owner of The Apothecary."

"But I don't belong to anyone."

"You shouldn't belong to anyone like you are a slave or a property. Nobody should have any hold over you, you're your own man," she replied.

Seeing the argument written on his face she gestured at him with a shake of her hand. "And yes, I know: A man who is without boundaries isn't free. He is lost." she dismissed.

"But I want boundaries. I want to belong to you and Sid."

"That's not happening, Sindri."

"So what do I do? Just follow a roommate who feels responsible for me into the stars, not because she cares about me?"

"That really bothered you didn't it?" she started back up remembering his question about the Turian sense of responsibility. She wondered how to best try to walk the line between being firm and ending the unwanted conversation without being rude.

"Don't be cruel, Vetra."

"Don't be needy, Sindri."

_Shit_

At this the human slowed and stopped walking, he did not reply immediately nor did he turn to look at her. She watched him crane his head towards the rushing waters, though she did not hear it she saw him take a deep breath and before resuming his march towards a cove of trees just past a clearing and towards smaller crags.

"Hey, Sindri." Vetra began as the human continued to walk without answering.

"I think we're having a cultural misunderstanding."

"No, I don't think so. I just want for you and me to be close too, but you are keeping me at arm's length and I hate it. I can feel eyes on me when I interact with Sid and you have this edge to you like you want to keep our lives completely separate while being together."

"To be fair you are a grown man playing with a ten-year-old girl, it's weird. And you are getting upset because I don't treat you like you're family when you are a human and I've barely even known you for five months."

At this Sindri stopped and looked at her with hardened eyes.

"Do you think Sid has suffered for lack of a father-figure in her life?"

Now Vetra stopped walking and a few steps after so did Sindri after noticing.

"Stop right there," she warned. "You are never going to be a replacement for Father. Sid might be too young to remember what it was like to live at home with him but I do."

"When people hear something hurtful, they never stop to wonder if it's true. Have you had many men, rotating out of Sid's home life?"

The Turian shifted her weight and narrowed her eyes at him with growing heat under her faceplates.

"If you don't think I won't knock you on your ass for implying I'm a slut, you are mistaken."

"Are you angry because it's true or angry because you are not?"

"I am not a slut, Bogatyr!"

"A virgin then?"

"Spirits help me, no! Why would you ask me something like that?"

Sindri turned at looked at her with a mean smirk on his face.

"Because I opened my home to you, bared my soul to you at the lowest point in my life and you've offered nothing, nothing about yourself and nothing as to the circumstances that brought you here. I know the Turian but I don't know the woman. And you seem comfortable holding all my secrets and giving none in return."

"So you think it's appropriate to ask me about my sex life?!"

The human then held a finger at her and smiled wider.

"You have a weakness, one I recognized right away."

"Oh, I want to hear this."

"When you get defensive, you start offering things you wouldn't otherwise."

"No, I don't!"

"You didn't finish Boot Camp. You have no one else here in Mirrard with you. You used to go hungry so Sid could eat. You are no whore but you are not a virgin, and you are much chummier and open with Amanda about sharing your tale than with me. I may not be allowed to look at the beast directly but I can tell a lot about it from its shadow."

"That's enough!" shouted Vetra. She took a few steps forward and stuck her finger in Sindri's face.

"I trust you to do the right thing because bottom line, I think you are a decent man. This doesn't mean I like you or that I want to be close to you. You'll lie to anyone. And you are way too damned manipulative. So stop asking questions, stop analyzing me, and stay out of my shit, Bogatyr!" she finished with a grunt before stomping away from him.

As she kept walking towards the grove she noticed the human was not following her.

Was he being indignant or was he speechless?

"Where are you going, Ms. Nyx? We are digging right here!" he cried, barely containing a smile as he tapped a cluster of shattered rocks with his foot.

-0-

"Sindri! Look here, this is a Salarian probe. Spirits, it is so old. It might be among the early generations they sent out before they joined the Citadel." started Vetra as she wiped away roots and gravely stones off the shell off an artificial body.

"Is that good?"

"With the right buyer, absolutely. While the body is trashed we can probably salvage the motherboard and a few other components. And unless I miss my guess, if I reach back here and take this rig shell apart I can actually retrieve the Deca-core processor and-."

The Turian squinted at the human for a moment before she shook her head.

"Do you understand anything about what I'm telling you?"

"A little, these are the thinking parts of a computer. Brainpower, grey matter and neurons, no?"

With a little smile, Vetra nodded.

"That's the gist of it. Here, I'll explain-"

"Vetra, grab whatever is valuable, and let's go. We can come back to this in the cave."

"Are we in a rush? If you don't want to me to expla-"

Sindri again lifted a finger then looked up to the sky for a moment. Vetra tilted her head and caught sight of the stars and the sudden moons overhead.

Night was coming quickly and an azure gloom was beginning to settle around them.

"It is most definitively unsafe to get caught out in the dark in Mirrard. Worgs especially love to hunt by moonlight."

-0-

Sindri smiled pleasantly as Vetra thought out loud about how best to sell the piece of equipment as she finished dusting it off and packing it away in a plastic, zipper bag. He admitted to himself he didn't understand most of it but it was nice to see her happy and excited for a change on their trip into the wilds. He'd been disappointed that she didn't enjoy the outdoors as he'd hoped she would, but there was a little rancor in his heart as of late he hadn't been able to shake away. A bitterness that had ill settled in his chest and he couldn't help think about whenever he saw the Turian.

He liked her and he wanted her to like him.

It was uncomfortable to experience such disparity between intimacy. He'd spilled his guts and she'd comforted him that night months ago but there was a very clear line, unspoken, between them. He still didn't know why Vetra and Sid had come to Mirrard and though they bantered and got along fairly well there was an indelible line she was not letting him cross. Though he had no doubt that he'd earned her respect and gratitude, perhaps more than earned, it seemed just strange to him. She and he by rights now should be as close as only trusted friends can be. But they weren't. She was comfortable engaging in talking but not really speaking to one another. All banalities with no depths. Very formal, very clean, and very separate.

It was frustrating.

She had seen so much of him and genuinely reached out to help him from a place of compassion. But she was very comfortable with maintaining herself closed off to him and keeping her own secrets.

The discomfort spilled into quiet anger at times. Perhaps he was floundering because of what he was, or perhaps it was simply foolishness on his part.

He wanted to be family with Sid and Vetra, to be recognized as a clan member, and considering all he'd sacrificed he hoped that the elder of the two sisters would be amenable to the idea instead of treating him like a stranger whenever he sought to be close with them.

Sindri couldn't imagine leaving Mirrard to live a life like this.

With a shift in the wind from the clearing, he stopped dead in his tracks and his arm caught Vetra before she took another step.

"Sindri, what's wrong. Oh, Spirits! What is-"

The human pulled her close and gestured her to be quiet.

"Musk."

Sniffing the air, Sindri parted his veil by unclipping one end of it from his helmet and breathed deeply before his eyes went wide and scanned the tree line across from them.

"It smells faintly like matted hair and dirt. Only Sable Elks smell like that after they come out of hibernation, but they all woke up months ago."

"What else is big enough to smell like that?" asked Vetra as she unslung her rifle before Sindri gently gestured for her to sling it back on as he put his own away.

"A bear," he whispered, as he tried hard to suppress the feeling of dread he felt clasp around his heart.

By the look of sudden alert worry on the Turian's face, he hadn't been successful.

Quietly he began to sneak through the outer edge of the tree line and towards the falls. He extended his senses forward into the half gloom of early night and kept his mind on the wind running through his hair. The stench was faint at first but as the wind blew on the back of his neck he felt it fatten and cloy into his nose. He could practically taste the skin oil on the wind. He knew his life was at the mercy of the wind. On such open ground, he doubted that Vetra and he could successfully hunt or much less defend themselves from an adult Timber Bear. Their best bet was to head down the slope and back into the cave. But how far would they get before the wind betrayed them?

The bears had keen hearing, but their sense of smell was truly terrifying.

In the soft light, Sindri saw the outer edges of the pines which led down the steep hill, too dense and too steep for a charging giant to easily come down from.

With the smile of a man just narrowly cheating death he gestured the Turian behind him onwards. Squinting at him in the darkness Vetra nodded before snagging her leg on a rock before catching herself on Sindri who she was following so closely.

A crack in the woods snapped both of them towards the far end of the clearing which was almost out of sight. Sindri looked up to the tops of the pines and saw them part.

Turning Vetra towards the path off the cliff he gestured for her to move silently. His hand returned to her back as he pushed her on. Chancing a look backward he faintly saw the shape of something behemoth entering the clearing of snow, now very visible because of the black shape against the snow. His heart dropped and he was thankful Vetra was in front of him.

The gods lived in the forest, and now he'd just seen another. Now he feared for Grandfather too.

"Sindri, we are almost there," whispered Vetra, her voice masked by the towering pines' snow-capped rings.

Then the human felt the wind blow hard against his chest. Gripping her shoulder hard he pushed her into a run parallel to the river next to them. Chancing a look backward Vetra could see the veiled grimace of terror on his face.

"He's got us. Run!" he hissed hoarsely.

A wall of noise slapped both of them as a roar erupted like a nearby thunderstrike out from the woods behind them followed by the snapping noise of pines being violently broken by something's passing.

Sindri sprinted towards the end of the shore.

"Wrong way!"

Wordlessly Vetra followed Sindri as he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her towards it instead of the way they'd come. She caught the look in his eyes and he ran her towards the edge of the cliff.

"Jump!" he cried as he leaped, she followed, still holding onto his hand.

Vetra screamed as she and Sindri became airborne. She had wondered for an instant and been sure he'd meant for them to land in the branches of the steep hill they'd ascended where perhaps the bear could not follow.

No.

The human had led her off a cliff.

And into the dark waters of the icy lake.

As she rapidly descended with her companion, the mirror-like surface of the water rose up at her now like an inky shadow.

She hit the surface feet first without being able to cry out. The pain from the frozen waters cut her voice out of the lungs and she began to sink. Looking up she saw Sindri, swimming up to the surface.

Vetra wanted to cry out to him, but she couldn't. Her feet crumpled at the bottom of the lake's modest depths and she saw his shape, trashing around. Looking for her.

And she struggled at the bottom of the black waters.

-0-

Vetra Nyx was dying.

Her lungs began to burn and the cool strength of all the adrenaline in her body was not saving her as she flailed upwards with all her strength. Unbidden her thoughts went to Sid and rage overtook her senses as she coiled her legs and launched herself from the bottom of the lake. All her strength was devoted to this one action as her arms fanned downwards as she'd done when sticking her hand out of the windows of slow-moving vehicles and feeling the push and drag of air currents as a child.

To her horror, she began to sink back down.

She was going to drown and panic began to overtake her senses even as the remaining mental clarity kept her from screaming for help. Her limbs felt laden and she began to exhale little bits of air just to be rid of the carbon dioxide burning her lungs.

Vetra felt her strength bleed out of her as she sank back down onto her haunches and her arms listed uselessly to her side.

Her throat held on, unwilling to let the lake fill her lungs but she distantly realized that as soon as she passed out, she'd die. Her sight darkened and colors began to change before her eyes and the night sky began to fade into a black void very quickly.

A sense of helplessness clouded her mind like a light fog as she thought of Sindri and how badly she wished he could pull her out. She stopped fighting the encroaching darkness as she felt herself dipping back into the deep.

With the little conscious thought she had left, she imagined she felt the bony feelers of some watery monster latch onto her face as her head was dragged back up. And she felt something soft touch her mouth.

As she felt the slightest inkling of oxygen force itself into her lungs and her sight came back. With the ferocious strength of a second wind, she latched onto the thing giving her air.

Against the soft hues of the nighttime winter sky, she could see the shape of Sindri's body and his legs dangling towards the surface.

He'd kissed her and was pushing air into her lungs. Greedily she returned the embrace and felt him drag her towards her left. For a moment he stopped and looked into her eyes bringing his hand over her chest and patting her twice.

_Look at me. Don't panic._

Breaking away from her he swam back up to the surface and after a brief moment, he dove back down to meet her now standing upright. Again he pushed her towards her left and kissed her again, awkwardly Vetra locked lips with him and breathed in as he gave her air before he broke again and made towards the surface.

Every time he kissed her and gave her air he looked at her and held her in arms as he continued to drag her.

_Stay with me._

Suddenly she tripped off her feet. Without thought, her hand shot towards the ground that would obviously come up to her as she fell. But it didn't. On her shin, she could feel the position of the muddy ground beneath her.

It was at an upward angle.

Sindri was herding her towards the shore.

Again the human came back down to her and she reached up to grab onto him as he kissed her again and she felt the bitter ache and burn in her lungs abate as he pushed her further and the angle became a slope.

With a few bounding steps she began to see the surface rapidly approach as Sindri kissed her one last time then pushed her up towards the surface as she immediately caught onto his intentions and launched herself again.

She broke the surface wrapped in his arms and opened her mouth wide. Vetra Nyx took in the frozen night air with more relief than she'd ever felt before in her life.

-0-

Vetra sat in her underwear towards the bottom of the cave her scaly midriff and thighs bare to the elements as Sindri in his own undergarments nursed a fire into a rapidly growing flame. Their clothes lay splayed on flat rocks or hung on wires inside the mossy cavern and despite her initial doubts regarding the habitability of the place, she could scarcely express her happiness at the warm fire before them. She'd felt sick and breathless when Sindri had helped her back to shore. But despite the trauma, he'd recovered quickly enough to push her into a staggering trot through the forest and back to the cave even as the frustrated roars and grunts from their enormous pursuer echoed through the forest and a few hundred feet above them. As mercilessly as he'd driven her back to their shelter she was thankful for it now as far as they were off the ground and away from that monster.

She pulled her knees to her chest, watching the human work she began to think of what had just happened.

Sindri had led them both off a cliff and dived back to save her. To quite literally give her life and keep her going.

_He kissed me_.

Embarrassed at having an alien be the first man to kiss her in years a faint blush colored her cheeks blue, more embarrassed self-reproach than flustered awkwardness her hand came unbidden to her lips.

_Spirits, that was weird, human lips are so soft.  
_

Glancing at Sindri who slotted another log into the small cone he'd built for the fire she grimaced and looked away.

_He probably came back down because Sid would never forgive him if he came home without me. Probably thought it was disgusting. He must have felt so awkward turning around so I could change in the back of the cave. Would he puke if he saw me?_

"What is on your mind?"

The Turian looked up at her companion as he sat close to the fire, pleased with the heat and drawing himself comfortably upon the blankets he rested on the wall of the cave while using a backpack as a pillow.

"Nothing."

Sindri smiled at her and turned towards the fire.

"Suit yourself, liar."

Rolling her eyes the Turian turned away from him.

"Are you upset with me?"

"Why would I be upset with you? You saved my life."

"Because you are behaving as though I've slighted you."

"You didn't."

"Then why not join me by the fire?"

"Because I don't want to."

At this Sindri stood and kneeled by her before placing his hand on the back of her neck. Vetra flinched and after an instant, she swatted his hand away.

"Don't touch me."

"Vetra you are freezing, quit this foolishness, and come sit with me."

"No!"

The human stayed by her and drew his fingers gently towards Vetra's hands only to have her draw away from him slightly.

"Is it because I kissed you? Should I have asked permission? Or are you going to keep lying to me and freeze to death?"

Vetra turned her head venomously towards him and clicked her mandibles.

"I'm sorry it must have been so awful to touch one of the most disgusting things in all creation."

She wondered for a moment if he'd reassure her, or jump to deny what she'd said or if he'd even care to correct her. The feeling on her lips and arms and chest and legs made her want to squirm in place. He'd kissed her and pulled her to the surface. She could still 'feel' the aftertaste of his body pressed up against her and her lips. What more she felt embarrassed by how violently she needed him underwater and the surge of helpless gratitude she felt for him by his saving her from drowning. She hated it. And she hated it that he must have hated it deeply.

The pair sat in silence until Vetra chanced a look at Sindri who hadn't stopped looking at her.

"I don't think you are disgusting, Vetra Nyx. Please come sit with me."

The Turian hesitated for a moment until Sindri held up a finger and pointed behind him.

Vetra stood with exasperation, holding herself while watching if his eyes wandered her body, and sat where Sindri indicated. His spot by the fire with his backpack and blankets. And as soon as she'd sat he'd plopped down between her legs facing the fire.

The instant before she could manage to ask him what she was doing he pressed his back against her.

With an audible grunt of displeasure from him because of her frozen skin, Vetra lost the admonishment coming to her lips and latched onto his war marked skin.

"Oh, Spirits you are so warm." she exhaled, momentarily overtaken with touching anything warmer than the cold stone.

Sindri grimaced further and managed a muffled "mhmm".

The pair settled in without another word. And to Vetra's surprise, Sindri leaned into her completely, craning the back of his head by her long neck. Casually he drew both her arms across his chest and held her hands there. Unsure of what to do Vetra stayed still. Again she felt awkward and bothered at the intimacy of the moment and his quietly expressed confidence in snuggling up to her to share his body heat. For someone who'd been so insistent, he found Turians revolting he seemed quite cozy between her legs and wrapped in her arms. Mercifully he said nothing for long moments as the crackle of the fire filled the silence of the cave and the lingering strands of sunlight faded over the mountains, plunging the world around them in lavender and azure hues. It felt like such a strange thing at first but later on less so as Sindri broke her out of the self-conscious paralysis. His hand gave hers a reassuring squeeze and every so often his thumb would caress her hand. Now as earlier she felt foolish and as though she was being tricked somehow. Sindri was warming her and comforting her. Because she couldn't do it herself and she needed him like when she needed him that terrible night in Old Jinn.

Grimacing she sighed above his head before taking a deep breath and settling her head into her collarbone as it was common for her species to fold their necks into upright rest. As she did so his hair brushed against her cheek and she noticed its texture and dark colors. His hand stroked hers again and almost unbidden she responded with a caress from her thumb without giving much thought as to why.

"Sindri" she started, unsure of whether he was even listening until he righted his head and took a deep breath. Had he been dozing?

"Thank you for saving me. I'm sorry I gave you the cold shoulder."

"Why did you?"

"Because I've been alone with Sid since I was a teenager up till now. I've never had to rely on someone else. I feel helpless and lost out here in the forest and it's embarrassing to feel this useless."

Craning his neck back so a single umber eye could look at her blue ones Sindri gazed at her with an expression she couldn't read.

"Then make friends with me." he breathed. "My father always said to me; my boy, make friends with people who know more than you so that you might learn from them. So make friends with me, use my wisdom, and learn how to be out here in the woods."

"We are friends, Sindri."

"You called us roommates, today. You assured me more than once we'll never be friends, Ms. Nyx."

"I also said I'd never trust you again but I jumped off a cliff with you and moved into your house. Besides, don't act like you weren't being a complete shit when I said those things to you."

"And it embarrasses you to rely on me does it?"

"More than a little."

At this Sindri pinched Vetra's hand enough to call her attention.

"Get over it. Let me take care of you and Sid."

"You don't have to. And you don't have to do whatever _this_ is."

"I don't but I want to."

"Why?"

Vetra winced as Sindri pinched her a little harder before slapping her hand.

"I won't pretend as though it is some great epiphany for me but you and Sid are _mine_. As you said, I'm stuck with you and her whether I like it or not here on Mirrard or out there past the stars. It would only be proper for me to learn to love you as I love your sister and take care of both of you."

For a moment, Vetra found herself without an answer. He was being Darskirri again and altogether too dramatic.

"Don't make it weird, Sindri."

"You are making it hard for me to love you right now."

"Stop saying that and stop acting like this."

"Like what?"

The Turian raised her hands up and curled them as her mandibles splayed themselves away from her jaw.

"Spirits help me, you are impossible. Stop pretending like you don't understand what I'm talking about. Every day for months you flip flop between speaking like Amanda and speaking like one the Darskirr. Stop acting like you are larger than life and stop forcing yourself to be nice to me every day when it's clear you can barely stand me. You pick on me all the time and you made your intentions plenty clear when we started out, you shit. You think I'm fucking disgusting and it makes my skin crawl to see you be this insincere in some flat attempt to build rapport with me because you think its good for Sid."

Sindri peeled himself away from Vetra with a snarl on his face as he jabbed a finger at her.

"You are so hard and jaded. Is that what this is about? You are losing your mind because I don't lick your boots all day and call you beautiful before kissing you to give you air?"

"Oh here we go, you are going to hold that over my head now too."

"I have never held my intervention in Old Jinn over your head."

Vetra paused for an instant thinking back to how he'd sprung to protect her.

"Are you keeping score, Vee? Let me ask you something when was the last time anyone other than Sid looked at you and said they wanted to be with you and _meant _it?"

Opening her eyes wide the Turian looked at him as though he'd slapped her across the face again.

"When was the last time you felt safe in someone's arms? Like you could let go because you knew they wouldn't hurt you. Because you knew for a fact there were others in your home that you could rely on and admit to them you are tired or frightened or lonely because you aren't made of stone. I mean, after, your parents abandoned their daughters?"

Sindri was toppled onto his back when Vetra shoved him off and loomed over him holding one claw to his eyes with a terrible snarl on her face.

"Say one more word about my father and I'll put your lights out, Sindri."

Slowly Vetra could see a gleeful spark of anger light itself in his eyes followed by a smug smile full of contempt. With languid confidence, the human drew up his knees and slid his open palms to his chest as though begging not to be struck.

"So was I right back in Old Jinn? Did daddy not love you?"

With a scream, Vetra wound back and threw her body weight into a punch at Sindri's smug mouth.

It never connected.

Like vipers, Sindri's hands snapped forward; one hooked itself behind her shoulder and the other on her spare wrist ripping himself forward with incredible speed. Knocking her air out of her lungs as his chest slammed into hers, her fist swung wide and behind his head. She pushed hard to keep him away from her and stand, only to find he'd wrapped his legs around her thin waist in a lock. As she reached to push him away harder, both his hands snapped around her wrists and twisted them inwards. Pain flared in her joints as she felt a sudden surge of enormous strength from the human as her right wrist was locked painfully in one of his hands and the other quickly grabbed onto one of her mandibles and yanked painfully to the side.

Vetra's rage was replaced by a sudden jolt of fear for injury as her jaw went and her head and body yielded. In an instant she found herself with the human straddling her, every delineation of his musculature put into contrast from the light of the fire against the shadows of the cave. He held her arms above her head with an absolute grip and clinical anger in his eyes.

Rage welled up again in Vetra's eyes as she tried ripping herself forward, straining against his grip and strength. She screamed.

And she didn't budge a centimeter.

Struggling she kicked and arced her legs to try and get one over him to push him off her to no avail. He only stared at her, a vicious grimace on his face and a look of absolute control on it.

She realized she was not going to move until he allowed it. The Turian screamed again looking straight into his eyes and heaving with all her strength only to fall onto her back as she struggled to no avail. The anger gave way to fear. She was not in control. Someone else was. Her mind was cast away to the night Sindri had rescued her from the bar and decided to take her to his home as to not tip off anyone from where her place of residence was. She'd found a loaded gun in his glove compartment. He'd told her then to shoot him if she thought he truly meant her or Sid any harm. She'd been in control then and he was gracious. And now she was on her back, in a cave far away from anyone or anything that could help her and he was angry. She was completely at the mercy of the human male on top of her. Dread gripped her heart seeing the look of old, bitter anger in his eyes that reminded him of the hollow man he'd seemed like when she felt he didn't truly 'see' her but just perceived her as a Turian. As a thing. He had a similar look in his eyes now and she was completely at his mercy. She was shocked at how unbelievably strong he was and the practiced hands he had at fighting. Had he always been like this? Was this what a Darskirri dancer was? It terrorized her to think that he was so powerful right now and she was nothing. He'd been this strong and Sid and she had been sleeping scarcely ten meters from him for months. She could do nothing and if he chose to harm them. And nobody would care if he did.

Vetra felt her hands begin to turn purple in his vice grip as he looked down at her, she continued to squirm and struggle and fight. She even tried to scratch his hands and successfully drew blood on his left. He neither flinched nor seemed to care. But the pressure around her wrists increased and she groaned in slowly growing pain. In her heart she felt a desperate need to get away from him, to struggle, and to keep fighting even as her strength slowly left her limbs as exhaustion from the day overtook her.

Before long she slumped backward, taking sharp little breaths with frightened eyes, watching his every movement.

"Answer my questions Turian."

Vetra shook her head.

"Why did your father leave you?"

With a snort, Vetra spat in Sindri's face.

Again she expected him to howl or scream or snarl. She winced, expecting him to rain blows on her; for him to fasten one of his stone hands around her neck and squeeze to open her "cunt mouth" as he'd called it and put it to use.

She expected him to punch her hard enough to make her cough up the day's lunch and all the air in her lungs; to rip her clothes off and help himself to her as she wondered for a moment if he'd ever been inclined to do so when she slept under his roof. But she would rather keep her mind inviolate.

He could overpower her, but he would not break her for answers he had no right to demand.

Sindri took a deep breath and moved. She closed her eyes expecting the worst.

Instead, the vices around her wrists released her and he sat back while still straddling her waist. With all the confidence and bemused mastery he'd displayed in The Apothecary, he wiped his face and flicked the glob of saliva and sputum into the fire.

Vetra's arms and wrists stayed where they were as she felt relief pump into her hands. She remained still where she lay.

He did not scream, he did not hurt her, he didn't reject interacting with her further. He stayed on her, still and quiet. His eyes transfixing hers like a snake coiled to strike in another sudden surge of violence. She knew he could restrain her again in a heartbeat; struggling was pointless, and he knew it too. Not knowing what else to do, she lay perfectly still.

There would have been something comfortable in violence, just in knowing what he wanted and what to expect. But his simply sitting on her in silence, waiting for an answer was scarier. Why did he want to know? What was his game?

The human uncurled one of his fists and laid it on her chest with a look of reproach in his eyes.

"Vetra Nyx, may this be the last time you ever lay your hands on me. And you will not take me for some fool playing pretend at trying to prove his honor at strangers and a Turian woman with more ice in her veins than love for others. What do you know of honor? Of trying to elevate yourself above beasts and the soft handed solipsism of people who howl for virtue in your modern cities yet lead empty lives with no chance to test it."

With one finger he jabbed her chest lightly, accentuating each word.

"You. Know. Nothing. And you have less excuse than I to be this way. And being like this; being cold, distant, and terrified at allowing yourself to rely on another at all is unacceptable. Which is why I thank you for casting it in my face that I do love young Sid. I love her more every day."

With a sneer on his face, he withdrew his hand.

"But you are truly impossible to love."

Holding up his finger to her face he exhaled bitterly.

"You are _cold_ and _hard_ and _mean,_ and it makes me wonder truly if anyone but Sid's ever loved you or if that love will even last."

Tears began to well in Vetra's eyes.

"You know nothing about me."

"I know you are irresponsible. You told me I was to stay with you two and live and you didn't mean it."

Sitting up Vetra poked him in the shoulder as indignation began to break her voice.

"Oh because you are going to stick around?! You want me to trust you enough to call you family because you are a grown man who is too much of a pussy to live without a noisy house full of people who _love_ and _work_ and_ live _for one another? Get real, Bogatyr. You use your family's deaths as a crutch because you couldn't let it go and move on like you are _so _proud of telling me. Do you want to 'live' like a Darskirr-pink-skin-elk-humper? Then go fuck the black-haired girl who wanted you! Go start a damned family instead of languishing in the woods like some tortured warrior waiting for his destiny!" Vetra spat venomously as the hints of a smile began to curl the edges of her mouth.

Then it faded in the wake of genuine laughter from Sindri.

"You are right, you are right. I praise you for selling me on the idea after all that I am "stuck with you and the kid"? At least I knew that I wanted a family to love and I did you the very great courtesy of believing your words despite my better instincts. Goodness gracious, I feel foolish for even bringing it up; I won't leave Mirrard. Grandmother was right, your kind isn't capable of love like mine is. If I just abandoned the two of you tomorrow, you two would deserve it and I don't think you'd even care, Vetra."

Quickly Vetra pushed him down and held him there with a renewed fire in her eyes and voice.

"Fuck you, you are just like Aurelion you smug piece of shit! You don't know a damned thing about me and you are treating me like I'm crazy for being afraid of letting _anyone_ in because I never knew why I couldn't keep you with my family when all I wanted was you and my father!" she screamed at him hard enough that she became blue in the face.

At that moment Vetra looked at her hands. They were fastened around Sindri's neck.

"Who is Aurelion?"

The Turian released her grip on the human and covered her face and eyes, still straddling him. She choked out a sob as she felt Sindri's arms slowly wrap themselves around her.

"Vetra, we don't have to fight just because you are hurt. I'm not going to judge you-"

She pushed him half-heartedly. "You are such an unbearable shit." she gasped out trying to regain her composure.

"They were your words to me, Vee."

Sindri held her for a moment, taking note that she hadn't pushed him away yet.

"Who is Aurelion, Vetra?"

At this, the Turian pushed him away and turned her face to the shadows at the bottom of the cave.

"I, uh, may have screamed things at you that I wanted to scream at an old boyfriend."

"A lover? And you never found out why he left you?"

Vetra couldn't meet the human's eyes.

"He met my parents and Sid when she was a baby. I thought I was going to marry him, my parents loved him of course. And one day he just vanished from my life. I was heartbroken and felt like dying. He was my best friend and fit so well with my family. Then I saw him eight months later on Palaven with another girl. He saw me looking at him, and he didn't even wince like he felt anything. When he looked at me, he might as well have been seeing through me. A year after that, my dad didn't come back home after work. Mom didn't care enough to even send money from her job overseas. So I took Sid and left when we were evicted because mom stopped paying rent."

"So you had to work for both of you?"

"I did."

"How old were you?"

"I was fifteen years old. Didn't even start boot-camp when I left with Sid. Mother didn't care I was gone, nor did anyone else."

Gently, Sindri turned Vetra's head by the chin even as her eyes avoided looking at him.

"I would."

"No, you wouldn't. You can't stand me, it's why you pick on me."

"Vetra I enjoy you. That's why I pick on you. For such a prickly woman you are a lot of fun to wind up."

The Turian shook her head as she held her arms to her chest suddenly feeling very foolish and unsure of herself.

"I want to love you, Vetra."

Shaking her head, Vetra cupped her hand over his mouth.

"Please, stop. Don't say that again."

"Does love mean a different thing to Turians than it does to humans?"

"No, it's just the way you are saying it."

"How should I say it?"

"By saying nothing. Do not say that."

"Then what should I say when I do well and truly mean that I want to make you happy and stick with you and Sid?"

"Not that you want to love me!"

Looking away towards the starry sky just outside the tarp Sindri narrowed his eyes for a moment.

"Ok. I won't say that. But I will explain and you can do me the very great courtesy of believing me. Or not."

Vetra waited patiently, feeling very flushed in the face.

"I want to make a family out of us three. You may not consider kinship necessary but I do, especially with what you've done to replace the clan I had. And it would be nice to have the feeling reciprocated. I only want what is best for you and Sid and believe me when I say I do not treat or think of either of you as anything less than _mine_**.** Mine to me. You two are all I have."

"Sindri, stop acting like I saved your life. You were depressed and now you are better."

"Vetra Nyx, the night you came to my room to speak to me, I had a loaded rifle sitting under my chin. All I could feel was relief because I could just end it all whenever I pleased. You saved me."

The Turian looked at him in mute shock.

"I am strong enough now to stand alone on my own two feet, but I do not want to. I want to be with you and the little one. You gave me a light when I was lost to the dark. I want to stay with you two because without you having done what you have, I wouldn't be alive to see this night sky again. And I'd like to follow you both when we sail the spaces between the stars and leave Mirrard behind forever if you were being truthful about my place now being with you and Sidera. If not and my destiny lies elsewhere, then we'll part in peace from one another when the time comes."

Vetra held Sindri's gaze for a long time searching for treachery or lies. But now as when he'd invited them both to stay at his secluded home, she found nothing. Nothing but earnestness vulnerability of opening his home and his life to two strangers he'd grown to care about if perhaps for dramatic reasons.

"And I don't need you to answer me, much less convince me. Either you will choose to or not, that's enough."

Smiling, Sindri dug himself out from underneath Vetra and drew his iron skillet to his rig above the brazier and began to rifle through his supplies. All while Vetra sat, awkwardly assessing the sudden shift in Sindri's mood. Was this it? Was the conversation over? Looking inwards she felt battered like the entire conversation had been a knife fight and she'd come out on the losing end. But had she lost? There was something distantly freeing in having someone see her like this. But she certainly felt handled. How much of what Sindri had goaded her with was bait to fish out what had been bothering her or was at the root of her behavior today?

_Fuck this feeling. I hate it, he isn't smarter than me._

Sindri's eyes moved to his helmet which sat on his rifle's upturned barrel as the shadows of the cave played on its veil; as if a presence observed him from its slits.

"I brought food and drink for you. And I'm breaking my own rule for tonight and I brought a pair of ales for you and me, to celebrate the journey."

"Some journey. We almost died to a bear and at the bottom of a lake."

"But how many people cheat death twice in one day? Now that's a great story."

"You are ridiculous," she said with a little smile. She was slowly beginning to feel better. They had survived despite the horrible odds and in quick succession at that. She ruminated on the mad dash to the cliff and the plunge into the lake.

These weren't moments of certain death, were they? Sindri caught on that as soon as the wind changed, the bear would know their scent. Perhaps their leap had been to have their trail go cold so the monster couldn't follow them?

And if she hadn't been surprised by the icy waters, she could have done much better; maybe even bounded her way close enough to the shore to where she could launch herself in shallow enough waters to draw air from the surface. If she were to do it again, she could have managed. Now she knew better.

Is this what Sindri meant by testing yourself?

"Your clothes are dry. Maybe a little stiff though. When we hunker down after supper, we'll share the blanket by the fire."

With a wide smile, Vetra narrowed her eyes at him, more than a little impishness in her expression as she poked him in the chest while settling in next to him to watch the cooking Dextro meat next to its sister skillet as human food sizzled there. She realized she was starving.

"Sindri Bogatyr. How many women have you brought up here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I can see it now. A nice spread of wild game you caught just that day, the setting sun, a bottle of liquor and a single blanket to share between the two of you."

"I haven't brought any women up here."

"Well, I'm glad I made the cut then. But I'm not sure if I believe you about all that. Considering the extra sleeping bag."

Sparing a glance towards starry night outside their cave Sindri looked at Vetra anew.

"That was Callux's."

-0-

Vetra slept like the dead and only woke well after the sun had risen and the smell of a ranger's breakfast hit her face. She opened her eyes to Sindri carefully tending the food and upon seeing his face the night before came flooding back to her. Much to her surprise, she felt content. She didn't feel angry or sullen or embarrassed. Just excited for breakfast and glad to have her companion by her. A little before noon, the pair put the encampment away and prepared their things for a fast trek through the woods. Now, unlike before, they were alert and aware of an apex predator in the area. Although Sindri was confident it could not reach them in their crag, they couldn't prioritize the safety of the shelter over risking a trek back to his rig; considering the lack of supplies for a long stay and their waiting obligations in Grennik. With a quick look around, Vetra stood at the mouth of the cave and kept sentinel over Sindri as he looked around for any signs in the immediate area that the bear had searched for them. Silently giving her a thumbs up, they both made for the treeline south and back towards civilization. Sindri and she slung both of their loaded rifles over their shoulders and set out in silence, but with decent speed through the woods.

Though she didn't dare say a word for fear of contaminating the sounds of the forest with a voice that did not belong there, Vetra felt powerful. Her rifle felt solid in her hands and soon her senses reached out around them and looked about quickly while silently mirroring every step Sindri took, avoiding branches or twigs or any obstacles to make loud noises by accident. They were both armed and capable, they were going to make it home and nothing was going to stop them.

Only a few hours after setting out they reached the clearing where they'd first met Grandfather and Sindri's pace slowed for a moment as he looked about and at the snow. He was looking for Grandfather she realized.

"Hey Sindri."

At this the human turned to look at her from his veil, her voice seeming very loud in the quiet void of the snowy clearing.

"I-I'm sorry for what I said. The way you act or talk isn't stupid, and neither is being Darskirr. You are not a pussy and you don't use your family being gone like a crutch; I was just trying to hurt your feelings. It was shitty of me and I'm sorry."

For a brief moment, Sindri blinked at her, almost seeming surprised.

"Plenty of people get upset at hearing something hurtful. But they never stop to wonder if it's true. And you are right, aren't you?" he started as he shifted on his feet and his eyes squinted in a smile.

"I need to change. And that starts with me, right now. I'm going to move past what happened on Dubek and actually start living again. It won't be finished today or tomorrow, but it starts today. And who knows, perhaps my fate truly lies elsewhere?"

"What do you mean?"

"Vetra, taking care of other people is all I know. It's what I was born to do. I need to have a family, a clan, a people. Maybe that's the lesson in all this; to be able to let go of what needs to be done away with and change for the better."

The Turian said nothing.

"Maybe that was my fate this winter. To save you two and in turn be saved, and learn to live then for you two to leave when you are ready."

"Sindri, you-"

"Vetra." he dismissed firmly with his tone even as a smile never left his face.

"I cannot expect you to treat me like blood just because you decided to take responsibility for what would have been my fate. And you cannot expect me to live at arm's length from you and the girl just because you are comfortable being alone and have reservations about Sid having a man in her life raise her."

Clipping his chain veil back on, Sindri shouldered his rifle once again and turned from Vetra.

"If I was not meant to be with you and the girl, then I won't be. At least you two won't be worse for it."

And with that, he lowered his stance and started back into the woods and out of the vulnerable clearing.

The Turian felt a strange twinge in her chest at the thought of Sindri's absence as she watched him vanish into the woods.

Vetra breathed deep and took one more look around the trees and not too far away, in the gloom and shadow of the enormous pines she saw Grandfather, standing still and watching her in silence.

The Turian wondered for a moment about the giant beast and she respectfully bowed her head before following Sindri's wake. Seemingly satisfied with her response, or perhaps scratching an itch, Grandfather's long blue tongue curled out of his mouth and plunged into his nose.


	8. Lines Crossed and Lines Drawn

**A few of my readers suggested I should encourage reviews and commentary. And I will admit what little feedback I've received has been tremendously useful and equally appreciated****. Thank you to each and every one of you that reached out to me with a message or encouragement.**

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**Thank you most sincerely. I hope you enjoy!**

**-Old Night**

-0-

Alexandra kicked a stone and watched it skid down the street and through shallow puddles in the increasingly warmer weather. It made her smile. The sun was shining in earnest and the fluschorks were starting to migrate back to Grennik, hilariously chasing each other with their awkward, long legs and little heads. These red avians were always a prelude to imminent spring and the end of winter. Now would be a season of renewal and a great time to celebrate with family and friends, to honor the gods, and pray for good fortune.

The winter had not been kind to her.

She'd been bitter and the wound in her heart had settled poorly, but over time the sting had begun to fade. She had loved as hard as she was able a man who couldn't love her back and gotten burned for her trouble. It was not her fault she'd realized. The Exile was a broken thing. For a man to choose an alien over the honest humanity of a woman who loved him had to be crazed or warped somehow.

At one time she could have sworn she saw the stars in his eyes. He had been the greatest of the Darskirr, a hero of Dubek and an example to them all. What a sad thing that now he'd ruined his life and thrown away everything he could have had; home, hearth, and a wife who'd walk barefoot on ice for him.

It didn't matter anymore.

He was gone forever and he was never coming back.

Skipping down the cobblestone street with a smile on her face, she passed The Apothecary. Surely the business was going to keep going, the aliens needed somewhere to go and Amanda and whatever the Salarian's name was could keep it in operation. She wondered for a moment if the Exile was still alive. So unbearable a fate was to be cast out that he was probably hanging from a tree somewhere or maybe his carcass rotted in his bed where he'd painted the walls with his blood and brains and a rifle between his legs.

The thought brought her some pleasure in meanspirited spite.

There was nothing wrong with her. The Exile was the aberrant.

Unbidden, the words of some forgotten aunt or uncle came to mind.

_Hatred is a more corrosive substance to the soul that holds onto it, than the soul that receives it._

She shook her head.

It didn't matter anymore. The anger could be let go.

Turning the corner into Garden Street she smiled earnestly at the sounds and smells of a market in the midst of peak activity.

Before her she could see the stalls and shops and stands where her own kin sold their wares, everything from jewelry made from opals and pearls to clothing woven by hand in ancient patters but lively new hues. Alexandra loved the market. Not necessarily just for the shopping but for the beating rhythm of a healthy community, everyone talked and chattered happily as they traded and many just came to the market proper to drink coffee and catch up on the week's gossip and news. Even the aliens, few as they were, who had wares or goods to sell were well behaved and deferential. The Salarian pastries weren't awful even if they were maybe a little gamey, and they wouldn't speak unless spoken to which was nice as their voices were reedy and perhaps a little grating. The Asari, she had to admit, made absolutely beautiful clothing and jewelry and at least looked like something closer to humans.

But they were aliens still, she had to remind herself at times.

At the very least she'd only have to see Turians every so often. As tall as they were they had a tendency to stick out even in a crowd, but they sold nothing nor did they really speak to Darskirri people. On a handful of occasions she'd seen the Turian named Vetra with her younger sister in the market and without the Exile. Only on a few such occasions she'd felt the desire to ask her what had become of him, why he had felt so compelled to throw his lot in with them; but she'd soon after decided that she shouldn't waste any more time wondering about his fate or how obviously heartless they were to forsake their only defender.

Oh well, she had warned him hadn't she? Turians are truly incapable of love like humans are, as soon as they were out of danger they abandoned him.

Rounding a corner into the corner where the Asari sold their dresses (and served treats for their customers) she froze and blinked for a moment.

The Exile stood with all the easy confidence he'd displayed throughout the years when he was fully comfortable and in his element. He wore his boots and spats and his poncho with its little brown tassels at its edges and its serpentine patterns across it. He was dressed in the garb of his clan in Dubek, their warrior garb. It was a loud advertisement even if it was unspoken. He was an outcast who wore a warning, he was not to be trifled with. It boiled her guts to see him like this, not anger or fright or hatred seized her but a sort of indignation and speechlessness. How could someone who had been humiliated that thoroughly still have the brazen balls to show his face in public, much less play entertainer for others.

He was smiling and animatedly telling a story to a little crowd of aliens and non-Darskirr. She couldn't make out the words through the din of the marketplace. But by the sour looks on the faces of her clanmates nearby that they were equally displeased at the Exile's display.

A small peal of laughter from the aliens captured her attention.

His legs parted, his stance lowered and his fists raised themselves in proper form for dancing with a look of deadly seriousness on his face. Then he began to ineffectually flail and swat at invisible attackers ocassionally blocking strikes or kicks and curling his right arm and patting his elbow as if to launch himself onto some prone assailant and bury it in their abdomen. His audience laughed earnestly.

She knew the words to the routine. Long had Sindri maintained that he and the local birds had a feud. The Red Mirrardi Fluschorks, he claimed, liked sunning themselves on his vehicle and he'd engage in mortal combat against them because of their hissing refusal to let him take their favorite tanning bed. More than once he'd told this story at Old Jinn to uproarious laughter for his ridiculous enthusiasm and funny storytelling lent this otherwise ludicrous tale life and gusto.

She'd loved that story.

The crowd and he spoke in excited tones and mutually nodded to one another, she only caught every other word but she was certain they were agreeing to dates and times for yet another celebration at The Apothecary. Everyone began to disperse after saying goodbye and as he began to turn, Alexandra felt a mild sense of panic and rushed into the start of an alley between the baker and stalls. She didn't want him to see her, more importantly he didn't want him to think she was avoiding him. She didn't care, why should she? The shame was his and he was stubbornly refusing to accept his fate and leave Grennik. Why should she care what an exile thought of her hiding or running? She shouldn't. Why did she feel panicked?

She pulled up her hood and kept her head down as he passed, praying that he hadn't spotted her.

"Where are we going next, Sindri?" asked the smaller Turian, whom she noticed was holding his hand.

"Anywhere we like. New Year's Pyre is next week so we should get the things we need to make ready for it."

Over Sindri's head, the older Turian looked down the alley and saw Alexandra. For an instant the two locked eyes and she frowned, the human just froze. As they walked past she placed her arm around Sindri's shoulders to guide him forward and presumably to forfend any inclination for him to look back.

The Turian was protecting him. And the pair hadn't left him after all. It shouldn't matter, it didn't. She may have been wrong about the Turians abandoning him but it was surely going to happen. It had to. Turians hated humans and the feeling was well reciprocated. It was just as well that the three of those malcontents had actually ended up all together. What was it her grandmother used to say? Birds of a feather?

It turned the air in her lungs into burning venom and she felt the wound on her heart bloom anew as her breathing accelerated. They were disgusting, it was wrong. A parody of what a family should look like. The little Turian on his arm, she looked at him with insincere love and warmth. She'd even tried to drag him aside towards another stall and pleaded with him with a tone of a little girl trying very hard to manipulate her father as he gently reproached her and guided her away from the sweets. The older Turian had given her a look and her arm was slung across his shoulders. She looked the part of a concerned spouse looking to spare her beloved anything that could spoil his good mood; this too was an act of course. But what soured her heart the most was the look on his face. The smile. That damned smile she hadn't seen in years.

But why? Why did he look genuinely happy?

-0-

Sindri was pleased with himself.

A few days since their brush with death in the woods, he'd felt himself again for brief moments. Having to struggle for his life, overcome the elements and cheat death felt much closer to Dubek and he'd relished the terror, the hunt and chase in retrospect. Even if it had almost cost him his life. This was fine, it was his to give away and dying on his feet was an honorable thing. But Vetra had truly worried him, her life was not for him to give away and she'd almost lost it twice. He resolved to make make preparations for the next foray into the woods. He'd bring his bayonet for the old rifle. And special rounds his mother had made in their basement when the Turians had invaded.

The bear-god would not find him wanting next time.

"Sindri, what are you smiling about?"

The human turned to Vetra as he gave her a pat on the arm.

"Just about our new adversary in the woods. I have some tools to give him a taste in the future now that we won't be caught unawares."

"I'm not setting foot in the woods again while that bear is out there. We don't have the ordnance to deal with it."

Sindri's enthusiasm dampened as he became aware of the little Turian listening to them.

"You are right. Tomorrow I'll head to town hall and inform the chief of it. No use in going out if we'll be hunted. Speaking of which, did you find a buyer for our ill-gotten gains?"

Turning her head skyward in mild frustration the Turian knitted her eyebrows.

"I'm still trying to see if the tech even works."

"Can't you hook a wire to it and feed it power?"

"Nope. See, I'm trying to find the right way to power it before I try interfacing with it. The stuff has value if it works, it could have even more value if it has data on it. But finding a buyer for an old Salarian probe memory core is a, niche, market."

"So it will be a few seasons before we have what we need to get anything moving off world, correct?"

"Years, Sindri."

At this, the human stopped and took a deep breath.

"How many?"

"I don't know."

"How many would you guess?"

"Five? At least?"

Sindri's arms crossed and his mouth twisted into a half-frown.

"This won't do, I think. Let's go buy you some furnishings."

"Sindri, no."

"Vetra, yes."

"We're going shopping?" asked Sid, letting go of Sindri's hand and suddenly seeming hopeful.

"Yes we are. I will not have you live under my roof for a half-decade sleeping on couches and cots."

Sid squealed in delight and hugged Sindri's abdomen.

"Can I pick my own bed?"

"Sindri, we need to save money."

At this, the human looked at her with a smile.

"Vetra, we can certainly afford to buy you two beds and recover from the expenditure in five years. My house is desolate and bare, let me do this for you two."

The Turian looked at her sister and the human at once thinking about Sindri's insistence about letting him care for the two of them and his words about his place perhaps not being with them in the long term if he was going to be kept at arm's length. While it was true that they needed to be frugal for the considerable expenses of resettling in another planet she did not relish the thought of having her sister sleep on a bare cot or herself on a dingy couch for five long years. More than that however, she didn't want to alienate Sindri anymore than he already was.

The Darskirr were either hot or cold, their rules black or white.

They avoided maybes and gray areas, and as fortunate as she was to have found Sindri amenable to operating within a somewhat ambiguous territory because of his exile she did not want to push him. He'd leave and she knew it. Even as embarrassing as it felt to have someone spoil her and her sister she decided to relent.

"Fine. Where should we go?"

Mercifully he'd said nothing to Sid about his concern that perhaps his time with them was temporary or that the two of them had fought in the woods. But he was clearly pulling away from them if he was willing to wonder out loud to her that his future was not with them. And while she no longer felt he was a danger to himself and she could certainly find a new place to live with Sid if he ever wished them gone; the thought of Sindri suddenly becoming absent from their lives made her recoil.

"What are you smiling about, Bogatyr?"

Pleased, Sindri turned on his heel and led off into another street.

"Nothing at all, Vee."

"I want a big bed!" exclaimed Sid as she shook Sindri's arm.

"Of course. And considering you'll be a teenager in a few more years we should get you one for when you start stretching, gods know you'll be bigger than me in no time."

Sid looked at him skeptically before looking at her sister.

"Yeah, you are kind of tiny next to Vee."

Sindri looked at the little Turian with faux indignation.

"Only by a shade. And I'm heavier than her."

"Fat!"

Sticking his finger out at Sid, Sindri smiled at her.

"Watch your butt, little girl. I work very hard to look this handsome and I am not fat. Besides, I'll always be older than you, so you should respect your elder."

"Am I still your little sister if I'm bigger than you?"

"Yes indeed."

"But you'll be older, so can I call you my _old_ brother?" the little Turian replied with a grin, her mandibles tucked close to her jaw in impish excitement.

Sindri rolled his eyes.

"Were you always this smug and precocious? Or are you learning stupid things from me?"

-0-

Nikita frowned, but only just, as he quietly trailed the Exile and the two Turians from a reasonable distance. Alexandra had been truthful about what she'd seen that day and more than anything he'd wanted to see for himself. The Exile was not dead, he was walking with the two Turians he'd sacrificed everything to protect. The man meant nothing to him now, but a morbid curiosity still compelled him to watch for a while.

What could such a trio be up to?

He'd led them through Friar Street and up to the local carpenter, a Krogan of all things, and he'd entered the shop with them. The smaller Turian bounded in happily while holding the glass door open for the adults who stepped inside and out of the shining, noon sun.

The man waited patiently, nodding or greeting his kin as they passed and to the few aliens he was on speaking terms with.

It was such a bizarre thing to countenance, the idea of a Darskirri warrior and two Turians living side by side. If he hadn't seen it before and with his own eyes he'd call anyone who told him such a tale a liar. Or a drunk. But so many years ago it had been a similar scene with Callux and the Exile walking together. Observing them both at the start had been a shock. The Turian was huge, even by the standards of their wicked race and his companion seemed so much smaller than he. Then again, the Exile was a bit smaller than the Mirrardi Darskirr. Such were the differences in breeding between the clans. The Exile was also bubbly, irreverent and endearingly arrogant back then. He laughed frequently too.

The differences hadn't stopped visually either. Callux was quiet and meek, unsure of himself despite how imposing he looked; his former adversary was irrepressibly confident and fierce in his defense. He'd even made a point of introducing the big lug to every shop owner and individual in town when the alien had first arrived. As far as the Exile had explained it back then, Callux and his family resettled in Mirrard as part of some program from their homeworld. But his family proper lived in Kuov so the alien would only be visiting every so often. But it seemed those two were together every weekend and they'd even go off into the woods to do gods-know-what.

But now the three looked the picture of a happy little family. It was hard to imagine how this had come to be about considering the obvious acrimony between the two that night in Old Jinn. Perhaps he'd been dishonest in how he'd cared for the two or he really held some animosity towards Turians or perhaps it'd all been an act. It was hard to tell, the Exile had become a profligate liar and duplicitous manipulator after Callux had been killed.

_After we killed him._

Nikita grimaced at the sour memory and what came after.

The inured bitterness from someone he'd considered to be a hero hurt his pride. But the terrible rage that came after was worse, even worse than the humiliation of being beaten so badly in a challenge by blood. The Exile was every bit as fearsome and Elder Luxemn had described before the survivors from Dubek had been resettled in Mirrard. Long had Nikita prided himself on how strong he was even if he wasn't the best dancer. But the Exile was closer to a beast than a man when they'd fought. Pain posed no obstacle for him for as hard and more often that Nikita had struck him his opponent had replied with bellowing rage and twice the force. Mirrard had never warred, how could he have expected to best a veteran? Much less a warrior of Dubek, so zealous were they in dancing and dealing with pain that they seemed quite literally willing to destroy themselves in pursuit of victory that only injury had slowed his opponent and not agony.

It hadn't even given him pause, it only made him angrier. The kind of anger only roused out of a man seeking to avenge a loved one.

Poor, foolish Exile.

Nikita had only tried to help him and been blamed for his trouble. And unjustly as well for the friendship between Callux and he was a forbidden thing. And the Exile was fully to blame as well. He should have known better.

A bell's jingle pulled Nikita out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the Exile again. He stepped out, alone, and crossed the street in good spirits and up the road.

Again, he followed to see where he was going.

Jogging along the street the Exile passed a group of older Darskirri women. None of which looked at him, but frowned and continued their path undisturbed as he made to pass them. Coming up on another narrow street he turned the corner and looked at a small shop with the sign for a weaver and some Asari symbol beneath it.

Amicably he stuck his head into the shop.

"Hey, Anaven!"

The alien inside replied in a similarly happy tone.

"Do you have linens for two beds? Relatively bigger ones?"

With a nod, the human turned and called out "I've two customers for you before the end of the hour, my dearest."

In an instant Nikita cursed himself, realizing that he was out in the open in the narrow street, a street in which he was hidden by no crowds.

Their eyes met and he saw something in the Exile's eyes he did not like.

Dread

Not for himself but for the Turians.

"Hello, Exile." he began, glad at least that he hadn't met any outright hostility and unsure of what else to say.

The Exile's eyes darted to both ends of the street and to Nikita's hands. He didn't like where this was going.

"You loo-"

At this the Exile sprinted away from him and back the way he came. Nikita considered letting him go. What more needed to be said? But the thought of leaving the man with any doubts that perhaps he meant him harm didn't settle well in his heart.

The last thing he wanted was for the Exile to be agitated to violence.

He followed him back to the shop where he now stood sentinel by the door, all amicability gone. Out of the glass window, he saw the two Turians. They noticed him and came out to their companion on the steps.

"Sindri, is everything ok?" asked the older one. What was her name?

The Exile said nothing and stood still and higher on the steps.

"Leave him alone, Nikita." warned the Turian standing tall next to her guardian, her angry expression signaling her sincerity.

"I haven't offered insult, eh, miss. I just wanted to speak to him."

"You have nothing to say to him." she snapped at Nikita.

At this, he couldn't help but smile.

"You sound like an indignant wife."

Nobody smiled or laughed. And very quickly Nikita began to notice how people had stopped walking, talking and shopping and watched their interactions closely. As if they were expecting a confrontation.

"Listen, Exile. I meant to tell you that you look good. And whatever _this_ is with those two looks like it fits. Maybe living with the Turians is where you were meant to be."

The Exile stared at him longer than was comfortable. Even though he was quiet and still Nikita could tell he was alert and loaded like a spring, his eyes are what gave it away. And more, he couldn't see where his hands were under his poncho.

It worried him.

Anxiety nipping at his feet he took a step forward and held his hands out.

"I don't mean them any harm."

Nikita froze in place as Sindri's stance dropped an increment and his long knife hissed out of its hidden sheath and into his hand. The crowd held its breath.

"You will pay the butcher's bill for the decisions you make, Nikita."

"Don't be stupid, Exile. If you lay a hand on me, the clan will come down on you. And we are not unformidable."

"All but a handful among you are softer than a virgin's thighs. How many will have to die before I do? Just because you had to overstep your bounds."

The desire to get the last word and defend his honor caught in the back of his throat. The Exile didn't blink as the contempt dripped, almost tangible, from his eyes.

"How many brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters, daughters, and sons? How many, brave Nikita?"

At that moment he swallowed his pride and stepped backwards. There in the Exile's gaze he saw something he didn't like.

Conviction

He'd spill Darskirri blood to defend his aliens and he was at peace with it.

_Traitor_

"Nobody needs to die, Exile. Congratulations, I think you definitely found your place; best of luck to all three of you. May peace follow in your steps, Exile."

"And in yours, Nikita Val'Dren."

Stepping away cautiously Nikita's heart dropped as he saw his brother moving quickly to him.

_Oh fuck_

"Put that knife away you faithless animal!" exclaimed James as he rushed forward to the man on the steps.

Nikita made to grab James and pull him away only for his brother to swat away his hands and approach.

"Put that longknife away! You fucking degenerate piece of shit."

At this the Exile said nothing and simply raised his head and stood on his perch, looking down at James. The taller Turian made to step around him with a look of very genuine anger on her face only for the human to block her with his hand. He relaxed in place and the blade twirled in his palm.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? Looking down on me like you are better than us? You threw your lot in with _them_, instead of your people. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Your grandmother hates you, Exile. Alexandra hates you, too. And everyone is ashamed of you-"

"James, stop!"

"No, Nikita! Fuck him! He has not right to show his face in town anymore!"

"Grennik is not like Pavoka for us to cast him away. Leave it!"

"How dare you?" James started again despite his brother's warnings.

"How fucking dare you? You were the best of us, a hero, and you made friends with the same people who slaughtered our men, our women, and our children. I remember the stories, you killed a score of them, took their commander's head and ran them out of our moon with your clan."

"Out of _my_ moon, you brat."

James seethed in between breaths until Nikita grabbed him and yanked his attention away from the Exile and the aliens.

"For once in your fucking life, shut the fuck up and leave it. His birthstone is broken and he is dead to us in name and deed. Let the dead lie and leave him to his shame. He's beneath us whether he realizes it or not."

Turning his brother away and taking him by the arm Nikita drove him up the street and away from the crowd as they collectively exhaled.

With a turn of his head, James looked at the Exile one more time.

He smiled. Smug and self-satisfied and without a hint of reproach or embarrassment for himself.

_I'm going to wipe that fucking smile off your face, I swear to the gods._

-0-

Vetra sat under a tree with a deep scowl on her face even as she took bites from her lunch and the weather was beaming. Obviously fuming she tore a chunk off of her meal even as her eyes skimmed the wrapping, making sure she hadn't torn any off and was currently chewing it. She noticed another folded note tucked in the handkerchief her meal had been wrapped in. Still scowling she glanced at Sindri who lay quiet and breathing deeply in the shade with his eyes closed. She unfolded and read her message.

_Tried more sahroon powder on it this time. Thought it would go well with the meat, it has a lot in common with paprika. I hope you like it._

_-Sindri_

The little message was written in flowing lettering and beneath a doodle of what she could only imagine was a Turian smiling at her and winking.

He was getting better. The mandibles were splayed right.

Without comment she tucked the doodle away in her pocket to stash with the others.

She felt a twinge of gratitude for Sindri's intervention on their behalf earlier that day and how fiercely protective he was of them and against his own belligerent kin. It didn't shock her to admit to herself that she felt safe with him around. Now more than ever knowing first hand how formidable he actually was beneath the jokes and pretense.

"Not gonna lie, I hate your cousins."

Sindri sighed contentedly in his spot in the grass.

"They are fools. Don't let them contaminate our peace."

"James was completely out of line, where does he get off talking to you like that?"

"He's a fangless dog. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried, I'm pissed off and you know why. Most of my life was doing stuff to survive. Taking shit from assholes or being one. And they feel entitled to crap on you despite being the only man in their entire family trying to do the right thing just because you don't fit the mold of what they wanted you to be."

"I should take pride in being a disappointment." he offered with a smile.

Vetra shook her head as she grinned.

"I can imagine. Sindri Bogatyr, the dreaded exile, walking down the street with not one but _two_ horrible Turians. Old women clutch their purses a little tighter and children run inside! No self-respecting Darskirr would dare cross paths with such low company, no sir!"

With a barking laugh Sindri shot up.

"I'll keep my two Turians, thank you. I never got along with the rest of the Darskirr here anyways."

Vetra looked at him with renewed interest.

"You mentioned it once. Amanda and the others told me you don't really mix with them."

The human sighed, dejectedly.

"I most certainly did not. As I said, they hate without having lost anything. They are too clannish for my taste and none too wise."

Listening intently Vetra gazed out past the grass and through the field which passed for the town's "square" which was truly little more than a huge park and square of untouched land in the middle of Grennik. The space was perhaps twice the size of Calo Park and it had many more old-growth trees.

"You see, not all the clans are the same. Sometimes we differ in the details. And one detail that the Mirrardi and Dubeka Darskirri differ on is our approach to authority handed down."

"How do you mean?"

"On Dubek there was a big emphasis on individual strength and growth for benefit of the clan's collective good. And that sometimes means that we quarrel but it never breaches the line of feuding. Each one of us might have different ideas as to how things should happen or what we want to do and we're willing to fight about it. To rip the ideas and arguments apart and choose the best one."

"Sounds very scholarly of your kind of Darskirr."

"A people who separate their scholars from their warriors will have their fighting done by fools and thinking done by cowards."

"And I take it that the Darskirr here are not fans of your Darskirr's way of thinking?"

"Gods no, they hated it. Grandmother only tolerated it because she is from Dubek. Coincidentally it is also why she is so clever an elder for the clan. But I caused more than one scandal and before long I'd built a reputation for being an insolent troublemaker."

At this Vetra smiled.

"And they wouldn't shut up, Vee. They always wanted to hear the same damned thing and the ass-kissing turned my stomach. Oh! Tell us again how you led the charge at Fulga River, Sindri! Oh tell us about how many invaders you killed and the story about how you slew their war-leader. It was so strange, the vicarious bloodthirst and enthusiasm for my exploits. Not once but endlessly. I got sick of it."

Sindri looked out to the fields and the red cloth streamers being hung from tree branches and totems and poles and slowly erected tents. He noticed Sid out of the corner of his eye, she suddenly flinched away from him and stuffed her lunch in her mouth.

"Eavesdropping were you?"

Vetra and he felt a surge of concern as Sid turned to look at them with wet eyes and blue cheeks.

"Kiddo, what's wrong?"

The little Turian looked at Sindri with a wince of confused guilt and pain.

"Was James lying? Did you kill someone? When you fought."

Sitting up the human stood then sat in front of the child, looking her in the eye. Vetra couldn't recognize the look on his face, she was unsure if it was concern or empathy or indifference. She didn't recognize it until he replied.

"I did more than that, Sid. I killed a lot of Turians."

"Because they killed Darskirr?"

"Yes."

"Why did they do that?"

"I couldn't tell you why they shot first. But they did, so we fought."

"Do you hate Turians?"

Sindri blinked for a moment before leaning on his elbows.

"I don't. But I'm still angry with them."

"I'm sorry." started Sid as tears began to well in her eyes.

"Stop." Sindri snapped at her, shocking both her and her sister.

"Don't you dare apologize for what others thoughtlessly did. I would have been so lucky to have had you step out of that ship when it landed on my moon all those years ago, instead of those soldiers. I wish it had been you and Vee."

"Do you hate me and Vetra?"

"Sid-" he started as he began to laugh.

"Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Because James and Nikita hate us and they want you to hate us too."

"Do you think I hate you two?"

"You tell me."

At this Sindri began to laugh in earnest. Sid's mandibles shuddered in real anger as she reached out and pinched the human's ear.

"Ouch! Sid, I don't hate you or your sister. I love you. Do you just want me to reassure you?"

The anger began to fade and the little Turian tried hard to pout and hide the smile fighting to get on her face.

"I just want you to say it."

Smiling wide Sindri rested his head on his elbow and looked at her anew.

"Sid, I love you. You are mine and no matter what anyone else wants or says you will always be my sister."

At this Sid tilted her face forward and into his shoulder and he received her with open arms. To the sisters' surprise after a moment he leaned his head down and kissed the crown of her head. Sid wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"I love you too, Sindri."

"I know."

Vetra watched the pair for a long moment as a tiny smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. It was a strange thing to think of on paper but observing it felt comfortable. Her sister and Sindri at that moment weren't strangers who'd met one another six months ago or a Darskirr and a Turian. It was a man, comforting his younger sibling. There was so much of it that reminded Vetra of her own father. Had she been like this when she was young and before Sid had been born? Was this what it was like to watch her family from the outside?

Vetra stood and dusted herself off before sitting by the human to watch the revelers-to-be continue their preparations.

"Aw, did you want a kiss too? Feeling left out?" started Sindri as he smiled and loudly smacked his lips and puckered them at her.

"Kiss me and you're dead."


	9. A Coward's Lament

**Hello again, it has been a good long while since my last update, no? I apologize for the wait; it took me almost an entire month to try and fail to crank out what this chapter was supposed to be like, but I was very unhappy with the results. So, I took the story through another path and this chapter only took me a couple of days to do. More updates soon!**

**Enjoy**

**-Old Night**

**-0-**

Sid's arms shook with the strain of holding her young body up from a position that mirrored that of the man's just a few feet away from her. Sindri had called this exercise "planking" and spirits help her it was grueling.

From the day Sindri had invited her and Vee to live with him, she'd taken a gradual interest in her older brother's morning routines and at first, it hurt a lot. But she weathered through it because she was also Sindri's friend. And he only liked people who are tough.

"Hold it, sister. You are almost there."

"I can't" she grunted as her arms gave out and she plopped her head against the soft, grassy soil outside their home in a little space her brother kept clear precisely to exercise.

Rubbing her arms and a little despondent she sat up and observed the languid control Sindri displayed as he slowly pulled out of the form and sat across from her.

"I'm sorry." she offered.

"Pushing your limits is always hard. Remember when you started? Now you are up to a minute and thirty seconds."

"Yeah. But you do it for five."

"Little miss, I had my dad start with me when I was four years old. Be kinder to yourself. You've only just begun after all."

"But I want to be strong now."

"Patience. Doing these things with me is a good start, you will get there."

Sid thought about the black eye Vetra had given Sindri and frowned. Her older sister had a temper, Sid knew, but she was also very strong. Her brother was too. She hated feeling this weak and useless. Sindri told her more than once; one must be strong individually, so we can be strong together. But boy was it taking a long time to get there.

"Teach me to dance."

At this, her brother opened his eyes as he curled out of a stretch for his back.

"Dancing is not for outsiders, Sidera."

The little Turian frowned.

Her older siblings always used her full name when she was in trouble or when she was going to be told no.

"But I'm your sister, I'm not an outsider."

At this a little bit of confusion played across Sindri's eyes. He was very obviously considering what she was saying.

"Sid, my people learned a long time ago that we should keep our own secrets and our own ways. Our fleeing Mars taught us that. You may be my sister, but you are not Darskirr."

"Ok, then how do I become Darskirr?"

"You can marry into the clans and learn our ways or be born into it. But you are eleven years old and there are no Turian Darskirr for you to marry, so you can't."

"That's not fair. If a human can marry a Darskirr but not be Darskirr at the start, then why can't I?"

"Because Darskirr do not marry aliens."

"Well, why not? When Vee and I lived in Kuov for a little bit our neighbor Mark married an Asari."

"Well, that's Mark's and Mrs. Mark's business, and neither of them is in the clan, so no."

"And neither are you." Sid protested, oblivious to the second long pause in Sindri's movements before he regarded her with his full attention.

"So, big brother. If you married a nice lady, you wouldn't teach her any Darskirri stuff?"

"Marrying a Darskirri man or woman means you'd take their last name and leave your old life behind to learn our ways."

"So if you married someone you really liked, they'd become Darskirri?"

"Yes."

"But if someone really wanted to join, they couldn't. Because they need to take your last name, be family, and learn how to be Darskirr, right?"

"Correct."

"I'm already your sister. So why can't I be Sid Bogatyr and you teach me how to dance?"

Sindri smiled without mirth.

"Clever. But there is more to being Darskirri than just being my sister, Sidera."

"I know, if I take your last name then you can teach me stuff."

"It's a hard life, Sid. There is a lot that goes into it and I don't think you are old enough to make that decision."

At this Sid's mandibles clicked and she stood up abruptly.

"You sound _just_ like Vee." the little Turian growled as she stomped away.

"Sid."

In an instant, the little Turian froze in her steps. The tone in Sindri's voice was sharp and had an edge of anger in it.

"Come to me."

With a turn, the Turian unhurriedly walked back to her brother. With a plop, she sat back on her haunches and refused to look at him even as she could tell she was in trouble.

"Vetra loves you, Sid. Which is why when she tells you no, it is for a reason. But she has been alone all these years while taking care of you, so perhaps she did not have enough time for you. Now there are two of us, so you will have chances to learn and do a great deal."

"But why won't you teach me to dance?"

"Because you are _not_ Darskirr." the human in front of her warned.

Sid felt small and foolish for a moment until Sindri turned her head to look at him with an open palm.

"But-" he began with a little difficulty.

"If and only if; you demonstrate that you have the heart and the mind for it will I teach you to dance and what I know."

"How do I do that?" asked Sid with an open smile.

"You are almost eleven years old, you'd be raising your siblings and learning a trade by now if you'd been born on Dubek. Now act like it. Work hard, learn to restrain your temper at school, keep improving your grades, and show me the measure of your honor. And then I will start teaching you."

Sid furrowed her brow in thought before sitting back placidly on her palms.

"How do I show you my honor?"

With a blink, Sindri became distantly aware that Vetra had emerged from the house and was walking towards them in his little dirt patch.

"Honor is something you foster and grow and protect. Other people can see it, envy it, or admire it. People can spend a lifetime trying to take it from you only to fail. And only you can give it away in a split second."

"Do you have lots of honor, Sindri?"

For a moment, a look of real concern flashed across his face and he didn't answer her.

"He sure does." intoned Vetra as she walked up to the pair with a little spring in her step.

"Breakfast is ready, and I don't think I burned your bacon this time."

"I'm sure it will be great, Vee. Thank you." smiled Sindri a little breathlessly.

With a renewed smile she gave him a playful kick on his boots before jogging off to chase her younger sister who'd excitedly sprung back inside to eat.

"And don't cool off too much, Sindri. I'll join you for your walk after breakfast, ok?"

As the Turian woman that he'd found a reason to live for walked away Sindri felt a dreadful feeling bloom from his heart. It quickened his heart like terror and it burned his face like anger.

_Shame_

It had taken Sindri a long time to ascribe a name to the burning sensation that poisoned the air in his lungs and ran like icy venom through every vein in his body until it saturated his consciousness. A sensation he'd only experienced twice before.

The first time was when he'd overrun the platoon at Fulga River and subsequently hunted down the remaining Turians. It was then that he and another charged the invading commander. The soldier had a loaded rifle and fired to the left first, stopping Sindri's comrade in a hail of bullets only to be speared in the neck by the other's bayonet. Only luck had spared him that day. As Sindri worked gleefully to saw off the commander's head he heard a whimper from the nearby foxhole and peered inside. He'd found Callux, his rifle tossed to the side holding a holopic of his family back home. The big Turian turned to face his attacker as Sindri snatched the hologram and peered at it with his rifle still in hand.

There, in glowing orange hues, stood a big Turian flanked by what he imagined to be parents and three siblings.

Sindri knew he should have felt rage, he should have felt joy knowing that by killing this monster he'd be doing his family great pain from a solar system away.

But he didn't feel it. He stood with his rifle numb in his hand as his eyes drank in the details of the picture. The table of food set out behind them, the toys on the ground and the little clutter from the inside of a house well lived. The lines of age on the mother's face and a few scars on the husband's hands and the bright eyes of his siblings.

As Callux sat in the foxhole, confused, more Darskirr overran the position and many dozens found Sindri standing there with a captured enemy soldier and cheered. They cheered at the successful assault and they cheered at the severed head hanging from his belt. They cheered and howled and screamed for Sindri, who'd been the architect of this assault and instrumental to its success. And all Sindri could do is reckon with the alien that lay before him and all that he had done.

At once he thought of the barking dogs and the screaming Turians as they ran on the loamy soil of Dubek's moors. He thought about the sounds they made when he buried his longknife in their abdomens and pulled out their innards to then string them from in a powder blue colored noose fastened from their own guts. He thought of their swaying bodies like rotten fruits from the copse of trees and the meadows where they kept their godheads while they made bloody sacrifices and worshipped their stranger gods. A thousand voices rose from throats hidden in the woodland holy grounds in howling, savage prayer for strength and courage and cunning to annihilate these alien invaders.

Locking eyes with his prisoner and holding proof of his banal, happy life in his hands Sindri did not feel rage, he felt shame. All that he and his people had done had been to soulless invaders, monsters made flesh for whom the thought of mercy or understanding was impossible. All of the cruelty and sadistic savagery he'd inflicted on the monsters was justified, it was proper.

He hadn't done it to monsters, however.

But to people.

It was then that he'd begun to cry without really knowing why.

The second time was when his senses were consumed with the coppery smell of blood and the wet cobblestones of Kolov Street as Callux lay dying in his arms.

His heart had been broken that night. Sindri knew then that his instincts had been correct. Nikita and James never accepted Callux and for them to have invited both of them to Old Jinn was out of character. Why now were they all smiles and apologies for how rudely they'd treated his friend?

_If they are family to you, Sin. They are family to me. Maybe they came around and want to give me a chance?_

He'd suspected then as he knew now. James and Nikita meant his friend harm.

When the knives flashed out and one plunged into Callux's back he had been dumbstruck into paralysis. His friend didn't scream, he didn't bellow, he simply held up his hand to shield his face as the other sought the wound. This was an impossible thing. Nikita and James had lied, Darskirr do not lie.

Then Callux found his voice and what he did with it, was cry out for Sindri.

Terror of causing harm to his kinsmen and a desire to protect his friend from his assailants robbed him of strength and numbed his instincts. Love for Callux demanded he protect him, and love for his cousins prohibited him from doing them harm.

Another blade plunged into the Turian's chest and he suddenly found his strength. He grabbed it and the palm that held it and threw a punch, the fist twisting as its trajectory ended with his assailant's throat. Just as Sindri had taught him. Springing forward Sindri's hands shoved and batted away at his kinsmen's weapons, his voice pleaded them to stop. To leave the Turian be. Like an animal protecting its packmate, he lunged ferociously towards the attackers only for them to back out of reach while others attacked where his ward was vulnerable.

And then they did finally stop, Sindri turned his head to confirm what his instincts had already realized. Callux was dying.

Without another word the crowd dispersed and left the Turian, over two dozen stab wounds deep, lying in a pool of his own blue blood.

Panic instantly overcame him and he went to his fallen friend's side. The Turian was drowning in his own blood as he struggled to draw breath. Helplessly Sindri began to cry for help as he tried in vain to stem the bleeding, any bleeding. His resolve quickly extinguished like a candle dropped in the ocean as he realized he knew nothing about Turian anatomy. Where would he even start?

With a shaky hand and listless eyes, Callux grabbed onto Sindri and wordlessly pulled him close. He could tell his friend was afraid, afraid of dying.

He screamed again for help and embraced the Turian as his grip slackened and his eyes lost their focus. He wept silently as he held his dead friend in his arms, as every promise, every hurt, every sacrifice he'd made on Dubek and Mirrard clawed their way out of the dirt and buried him under the combined weight of the shame of his failure.

For the family he couldn't protect and the friend he didn't.

His honor was gone, and he'd revealed to himself in an instant that he was not worthy of a family, or friendship, or love or acceptance.

He was a coward.

With frozen fingers, for over an hour and a half later he held on even as the blue blood froze on the ground and his voice became hoarse from crying for help.

Nobody came to help him.

Umber eyes snapped towards the source of a new sound and fastened on Vetra catching Sid as she struggled to get out of her grip, all laughter and pleasant little shrieks of excitement so common to a Turian child.

Sindri could see them both hanging from trees, their arms broken and their legs hobbled as their blue tongues lolled stupidly out their mouths. Their necks stained blue from bloody nooses made from their own intestines. He could see either of them bleeding to death from dozens of stab wounds in an alley in Grennik. He wasn't sure which would hurt him more.

Burying his face in his hands, trembling lips contorted as a stifling wave of guilt and sorrow washed over him but only for an instant. With very real effort he drew in air and buried the feeling. Forcing himself to smile he sniffed at the air and the scent of pine kissed his nose, as did a hint of Vetra's lingering smell. It had a warm but sharp quality to it, almost like men's cologne, much like her little sister.

He'd begun to associate the smells with home, safety, and happiness. Much like the smell of his household and all the lives it once held in it before he'd been orphaned.

"Hey, Sindri! Hurry up!" called Vetra as she stood on the tips of her toes and to Sindri's surprise waited for him to make it to the house before opening the door for him to enter. Awkwardly he lumbered in and his hand wavered in the air for an instant before clapping her on the shoulder and squeezing.

"Something on your mind?"

With a relaxed smile, Sindri winked at her and stopped close enough to her that he could speak and Sid would not hear.

"You are sweet, you know that?"

A little blue flashed across Vetra's face before she rolled her eyes and pushed him into the house.

"Don't get soft on me just because I finally learned how to cook human food, Bogatyr."

-0-

Vetra could barely contain her joy, despite the audience.

"Vee is pleased I see." intoned Sindri as he leaned in the doorframe of his guest room, now furnished with two full beds and arranged in opposite corners of the room.

"You are such a shit! I was so worried when you were an _hour_ late to get me and Sid. I even called Amanda and she said you were running an 'errand'."

"Lugging two beds in here from Grennik was a task. Jordun was nice enough to hitch up with me and give me a hand. His carpentry is nice right?"

"I'll thank him next time I see him. But, he doesn't sell mattresses, Sindri. Does he?"

"No, but gentleman next door does and Jordun sells the frames. But I went to him for other things."

Sid bounded out of her bed (which now had a carefully arranged phalanx of stuffed animals by her pillow) and followed the human out of the room with an excitable chirp. At this Vetra rolled her eyes despite the smile and genuine happiness she felt. What had he done?

From out of his room he began to draw several bookcases and cabinets all of polished wood and stained in azure and violet hues and a similar but smaller arrangement stained in fiery oranges and reds. He'd gotten them individual sets in their favorite colors and the matching blankets, sheets, and comforters for their own beds. And more than that, he'd gotten them each lamps to go by their bed stands and tribal tapestries to hang on the walls. Out of wrapping paper and sealed boxes, there also came their own cups and sets of plates.

It was too much, altogether too much.

"Thank you Sindri!" exclaimed Sid as she hopped back on her bed after giving him another hug and returning to intensely and clinically rearranging her toys and books and baubles on her new spaces.

With a smile, Sindri withdrew from the room with a wink at Vetra. The Turian looked at her boxes and her new bed and fresh sheets and blue bookcase and felt a sense of giddy enthusiasm. Who would have thought such a simple thing could bring one such joy?

How much had this cost him?

Frowning, Vetra hurried out of the room out to Sindri's greenhouse where he sat in a chair by the lit brazier clearly enjoying the warmth as the sun died over the horizon.

"Sindri."

"Vetra," he replied, his knowing tone giving away that he knew the words that were coming next.

At this, the Turian stopped and fidgeted with her hands as she broke eye contact.

_You will either choose to or not, that's enough._

"Thank you. For everything. You didn't have to. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

As the words left her mouth the Turian closed her eyes, cringing at how awkward it sounded.

"Does it bother you? What I've done?"

_Yes_

The Turian shook her head.

"I'm getting over it. I just want to do something for you, maybe we can head to town soon and I can get you-"

"You are never going to find out how much I paid for these things and you are never going to pay me back."

"Spirits, damn it Sindri! C'mon, tell me wh-"

"Deal. With. It."

"Sindri, I saw the price tags on Jordun's furniture. They are so expensive it is not even a joke."

"The man sells quality wares and you'll only need to buy from him once. Besides he's a good patron of mine, in turn, old lizard that one."

Vetra clenched her fists and looked away.

"You are making it hard for me to love you right now."

The Turian's head snapped back at the human and a blue hue colored her faceplate.

"Do you have any idea what kind of a pain in the ass you are, Sindri?"

The human smiled with smug confidence and stood up dusting off his black uniform shirt and stepped around her.

All at once, she felt the desire to give him a hug but awkwardly thought better of it. Instead, she just tapped him on the shoulder.

At this, the human stopped and turned to her.

"You are welcome, Vetra Nyx."

"At least let me do something for you."

"You don't have to."

"I know but I want to. Let's go shopping tomorrow while New Year's Pyre is going on."

"Why?" Sindri replied as he squatted down by his fridge after opening it and rifling through the bottom drawers.

"Well, I just thought it could be fun. Besides most people will be at the festival and we'll practically have the shops and streets to ourselves. And I know a few good places to eat in the non-human quarter of the town."

Plucking a bundle of broccoli heads from their little bag in the bottom right shelf of his produce drawer Vetra spotted the telltale silver of a small Turian military case and the navy blue logo of the Turian their armed forces. Beneath it was the yellow symbol of their medical corps in stark contrast to the blue icon.

"Lost your thread did you?" asked Sindri as he twisted off the cap of the beverage and took a short sip.

"I mean, we can show you a good time. And please, it'd be nice to go somewhere different where we won't be gawked at and show you a thing or two for a change."

Looking at the Turian as he bit a chunk out of a piece of bread he smiled.

"Sounds good to me. We can catch the tail end of the celebrations after we are done."


	10. New Feelings, Old Bitterness

**More updates to come and sooner still. Let me know what you think of the story so far as now we're beginning to get into new territory and any criticism is greatly appreciated, both good and bad. Especially since Andromeda tended to amble towards your relationship with Vetra gradually then leap into it after her loyalty mission and I am admittedly an obvious amateur in writing this sort of stuff.**

**And thank you Stunt for your tremendously kind encouragement. I always look forward to your reviews.**

**-Old Night**

-0-

Vetra felt very light on her feet and a strange admixture of both trepidation and excitement as she ambled down with Sid and Sindri towards the "alien" district of Grennik. The sun was bright and winter was very nearly done and the temperature had risen enough that she could do with regular clothes and her father's jacket instead of winter gear. This did nothing however to focus her unstill mind. The circumstances that brought her to live with Sindri were some of the most frightening days of her life, but actually living with him had surprised her in the long term.

It had been something special.

After getting the first night's rest in a year that was not in either a prefabricated bed or an old couch, Vetra found herself reflecting almost involuntarily on her new shared room. And home. And what that actually meant to her. She never felt fully at ease in the dorms where she'd been set down after reaching Mirrard for how sterile and nondescript they were. She knew it was a temporary housing arrangement but regardless she was never truly comfortable. But Sindri's house was molding into something she was beginning to fear would happen.

That little place hidden in the forest was becoming home.

She knew it would be especially hard on Sid once they left Mirrard, and she prayed Sindri would decide to come with them, but avoiding the entanglement of setting down roots was becoming impossible. This was their refuge, their fortress and the place was beginning to take on characteristics and influences from its occupants. This formerly barren house was beginning to slowly accrue signs of life from a now frequently used living room and well-worn tablecloth where meals were shared. Sid hung all manner of pictures she'd insisted on printing out at school from holopics of distant worlds to fill up the empty walls of the house. Toiletries and towels began to appear in the bathroom for both human skin and Turian hide. Nearly every room in the house also had some experience or memory that made her smile. From lying on her couch looking through the extranet while Sindri and Sid lay down on the carpet beside it and half-listening to him regale her younger sister with legends and Darskirri myths; to sitting in the greenhouse with him drinking a pair of ales after an exhausting day. Even to the ridiculous morning ritual of everyone brushing their teeth in that cramped bathroom at the same time. They didn't fit comfortably but none of them complained.

There was even a now lightly worn path through the woods where frequently all three would tread to unwind and talk, but sometimes just them two.

It made Vetra's pulse quicken to think on how poorly it sounded to her own ears but she felt like a line had been crossed with Sindri in her own perception of the man after the cave, and cemented after his confrontation with Nikita. It roused a sort of anger in her when she thought of anyone messing with him. It was not that she owned him or anything. But that irascible indignation on his behalf flared frequently and with a higher pitch the longer she knew him and she didn't have a word for it.

By no means did she not care about him, despite her assertion that she wouldn't, but his words from all those months ago still hung like a pall over her. He thought Turians were disgusting, although she was an exception. Which is why it confused her feelings when he'd so brazenly and self-assuredly walk about town in her company despite the chagrin of his former clansmen. It made her self-conscious when he walked abreast of her, smiling and giving a friendly wave to the young women who sneered at him but it undeniably pleased her to imagine that the sullen looks she'd get after he'd walk away were something closer to envy. He was formerly a hero and celebrity to his people, surely he'd to have had his pick of women.

Looking up from her train of thought to see Sindri and Sid holding hands as she pelted him with question after question of how the Darskirr on Dubek do this or that she found herself smiling without embarrassment or self-reproach. If she really had to admit it Sindri was, in his own roundabout way, probably her best friend despite their quarreling and his constant teasing. There was something in the warmth and affection with which he regarded them and touched them that reassured her. A little squeeze on the nape of her neck, on the arm, a pat on the back, or a caress on her hand in that hidden crag in the woods not so long ago. She knew he already loved Sid and deeply. But at times she felt he did genuinely care for her, for her, not because he could get something out of her. And certainly not in the abstract and disciplined sense he'd declared when he said he needed to learn to "love her as he loved Sid."

There was an unnecessary tenderness in his attention and the details with which he fussed after her; and she had a growing pile of notes and doodles he'd made for her to prove it. Each and every one of them folded in her top drawer in the bed stand and none of which failed to make her smile.

A brief sense of warmth came from beneath her faceplate.

_Spirits, I'm pathetic. He shows me just a little kindness, and I turn into a puddle of shit._

She'd been so busy for so many years trying to provide for Sid and herself that she couldn't remember the last time she'd had any time to connect with anyone else. Granted Sindri would never be interested and she wasn't either but it was nice just having someone there who did care about both of them, especially if it was a man. Especially if it was Sindri.

Which is why he could never find out why she'd come to Old Jinn in the first place on that terrible night.

It had been so long and Vetra had been so preoccupied with living together and researching ways off Mirrard that she'd completely forgotten about the medicine he had used on Sid's leg. And she was sure she'd found it, a little medical case containing a fortune at least six digits worth of medicine refrigerated underneath his broccoli. If they received even a fraction of what that medicine was worth it could shave off several years off their timetable or even let them leave Mirrard altogether in a day and live comfortably for years to come if they received so much as half.

In an instant, she began to run arguments and counterarguments in her mind as to how to broach the subject of selling the medicine. Sindri knew exactly what that stuff was. He had to. And if she revealed she knew, how and why did she, he'd ask? And even if she feigned ignorance and simply asked he had to know how much it was worth and if he had not offered to sell it when they had begun saving money then he was perhaps not willing to part with it. She felt a little chord of dread in her heart at the thought of him overanalyzing her and sensing some deceit. Stealing and selling it was completely out of the question too. Half a year ago she wouldn't have thought twice about it, she admitted to herself with a little welt of guilt. Now, such a simple act of opening his fridge and taking it seemed like an unassailable and insurmountable feat considering the cost would be more than she could bear.

She didn't want him to hate her.

"So where are we heading to, Vee?" asked Sindri as he slowed his pace with Sid still holding his hand. The two now walked abreast of the older Turian and looked to her for direction.

Suddenly embarrassed and pulled out of her thoughts Vetra looked around and pointed.

"Oh, that way. There is a little outside restaurant, they serve the best pasta I've had since leaving Palaven."

Unbidden, Sindri hooked his arm around her elbow and pulled her a little closer with a smile.

"What are you doing?"

"Making you out to be the bad guy. Imagine what the other Turians will think of you when they see a Darskirri man on your arm."

With an exasperated sigh but a smile cutting clear across her face, Vetra looked at her companion.

"I must be terrible."

"The worst."

"I'm bad too."

"Yes you are, Sid."

Vetra didn't pull away from Sindri's grasp. But instead closed her elbow around his hand as she enjoyed the feeling of his skin on her arm.

-0-

"Hey guys!" exclaimed Amanda as she bounded down the street towards the trio. Her long blonde hair was woven into a thick braid down her back and her bright blue eyes shined at them as she closed the distance.

"How are you three doing?" she asked as she stopped and breathed deeply to catch her breath, her eyes wandering to Sindri's hand, locked in Vetra's elbow.

"Pretty good." the older Turian started. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great! I saw you three and I realized I've never seen Sindri out during the festivals andthenIstartedthinkingthisisa-"

"Amanda slow down. What are you talking about?"

Slapping her hands together in the gesture of prayer in front of the three of them she bowed her head while keeping eye contact with Sindri.

"Sindri, I desperately need your help." she said gravely.

At this he let go of Vetra's arm and stepped forward and grasped Amanda by the shoulder.

"What's happened? How can I help?" he asked with equal seriousness.

With a deep breath, Amanda grabbed Sindri by the arm and exhaled, all gregariousness gone.

"Did somebody hurt you?"

"No. But I need you to fight for me."

"Gods help me, what did you do? Why do you need me to fight a duel for you?"

"It is for a noble reason, Sindri. Please, you are the only person I can turn to."

"Amanda, just tell us what wrong. We'll help you out." started Vetra as concern began to well in her mind.

With a melancholic sigh, Amanda hung her head.

"Ok, so I know you were an amazing long-knife fighter from back in Dubek and it pains me to ask you to fight for me but-"

"My friend, you are seriously beginning to worry me. Tell me plainly, what happened?"

"I really, really,_ really_ want to go to the Stardust Supernova concert in Kuov next week but I just paid off for my car repairs and I can't afford it so I was thinking if you fought at the plaza tournament and I bet some credits on you I-"

"I refuse." Sindri snapped in even tone as he grabbed Vetra's arm and made to pass around Amanda.

"Oh, c'mon! Please, Sindri! I need to go to that concert so bad! They released a new album just last week and they are performing it live in the stadium!"

Vetra chuckled despite herself just as Sid began to giggle as Amanda moved and blocked Sindri's attempts to get by her.

"You should at least have the decency to be ridiculous over something of quality. That band just makes noise, it's not music."

"Oh! No! You did _not _just disrespect the voices of a generation, Zukon Ztar is a saint!"

"I just did. Besides it's what bad men do."

Fuming, Amanda reached slightly to Sindri's hand where it held onto Vetra as concern began to cross her face.

"Speaking of bad; are you sure you should be holding hands in public?"

"I'm holding Sid's hand too, you know."

"Sindri, that's not what I'm talking about. I know you and Vetra are carpooling for gas money but what if a Darskirr sees you three? You could get into huge trouble."

Letting go of both of his Turians, the human ambled past Amanda and draped his arm amicably around her and began to lead the three of them down the street.

"Let us consider this for a moment. Now that I am properly doting on a human woman; what is the worst thing that could happen if someone caught me holding hands with Vetra and Sid?"

"Don't joke about that. You know they can exile you. I know how important the clan is to your people and I don't want you to lose it. Besides, it is kind of stupid of you to risk their ire just because you are joking around with your client."

"Sindri, did you really not tell her?" began Vetra as she looked at the Apothecary with surprise.

"Tell me what?"

She looked at him for a brief moment and the human nodded at her without reproach. Taking a deep breath Vetra looked at Amanda anew.

"Sindri was exiled."

Amanda immediately cupped her mouth as her eyes snapped to Sindri's own.

"Sin, when did this happen?"

"About six months ago."

Vetra flinched as Amanda slapped Sindri's chest hard enough for him to hiss and the clap to carry down the street startling passersby.

"And you didn't tell me!? Or Grin?! Or anyone else?! Sindri, what in the _hell _is wrong with you?"

Rubbing his chest and bearing his teeth as he worked the sting away Sindri shot her a sour look.

"And what were you going to do? The affront was my own and I paid the price."

"What did you do?"

"Sindri protected me from Nikita and James when they tried to hurt me at Old Jinn."

Amanda held her fists up to her face as her eyes rolled into the back of her head in irritation.

"Sindri, I respect the fact you are Darskirr and we have cultural differences. But the clan in Grennik are the biggest bunch of two-faced, bigoted, backbiting, blood-thicker-than-water assholes in Mirrard! Why would they throw you out for protecting Vetra? Wait, don't start. You can't tell me because it is family business. Right?"

For a moment Vetra thought Sindri was going to explode at his irate friend but was surprised when he closed his eyes and exhaled. He seemed to straighten his back and weight shifted off of it.

"I promised that I would never befriend another Turian in exchange for the Darskirr here leaving all the non-humans alone. I broke my word, so I had to be punished."

"You aren't really carpooling with Vetra and Sid, are you?"

Sid stepped forward and grabbed Sindri's hand again while patting his wrist in an effort to comfort her older sibling.

"Sindri is my big brother and we all live together in his house in the woods."

"_Our_ house, Sid," he interjected.

Nodding the little Turian repeated, "_Our_ house." as she looked back at her older sister for approval.

"Yeah, I was surprised too. Sindri was given the choice to leave us and move to Pavoka or to be exiled. So six months later here we are."

Stepping away from Sindri and turning to look at the three of them, Amanda turned and looked at them with a mixture of concern, pity and admiration.

"I think you should fight in the tournament Sindri."

"I am not going to fight for your purse, Amanda."

"Didn't say you should fight for me, you should fight for _them_."

"What?"

"I realize all the furniture you bought was to furnish a home for your two girls. That had to have been expensive. The biggest prize in the treasure pile this year is a bounty of ten thousand credits."

Sindri's eyes narrowed in suspicion just Vetra's narrowed in consideration.

"A load of people got together and donated a hundred credits per head to encourage a mock battle. Wouldn't it be just lovely if the same people who kicked you out for protecting Vetra and Sid also paid for their new beds?"

"Won't that piss them off even harder?" offered Vetra as she cupped her chin and her mandibles hugged her jaw tightly in thought.

"What more can they do? Double exile him? The tournament is open to everyone and anyone. And besides if he's out of the clan then he's just a rung beneath us non-Darskirr humans. If he doesn't commit a crime-"

"Then they can't touch me" finished Sindri as a smile slowly began to emerge from his thin lips.

"What do you think, Vee? Should I fight for you and Sid?" he asked, turning to her.

The Turian suddenly felt very on the spot and a strange flutter of anxiety in her stomach. Her concern over antagonizing the Darskirr was dulled over the legalistic workaround to avoiding reprisals. And there was something else, something in her purred approvingly at the thought of Sindri fighting for her and Sid in front of everyone. She tried in vain to shake the selfish feeling despite the thrill it sent through her body. There was something equal parts warmly gallant and acutely ridiculous (as the Darskirr often were) in the spectacle of a swordfight in public. It was just for credits and to show up the people who'd exiled him while also making up for the money he spent getting them furnishings. It was just prudent. Sindri was not fighting for her honor.

He was just a friend. A really, really, good friend who was looking out for them.

"If you think it's ok. Then I'm right behind you, Sindri."

Clapping him on the shoulder, Amanda smiled at him as the trio turned towards the town center.

"I'm proud of you Sindri, for fighting for your friends."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you for fighting for my wager."

"Don't bet more than you are comfortable losing, Amanda," Vetra warned.

The woman let out a sharp laugh.

"Oh, Vetra. You haven't seen a Dancer like him. Has he ever danced for you? I remember the first time I saw him fight with two wooden long-knives in Calo Park when the other Darskirr asked him to show off all those years ago."

"He was impressive?"

"Mesmerizing, I guarantee you. You've never seen a Dancer like him."

-0-

Vetra smiled sourly at the crowd as she and her friends approached the throngs at the square even as Amanda kept a steady stream of encouragement in Sindri's ears. The Darskirr parted around them like vinegar around oil, all hard stares, and bitter resentment. The announcer, an older man bowed by age but no less proud, invited all challengers to approach the square, and more than a handful had emerged from the crowds and groups sitting comfortably on the grass as they observed the contenders go to the wooden stage. And some of them were not Darskirr. As Sindri had elaborated, this was more a game than any real test. The wooden weapons had an inlay along the dulled edges where they had been filled with woolen fibers stained in thick red paint. The contenders would fight attempting to mark the other. The first to three cuts wins. Amanda spoke like a woman possessed of a secret weapon as she gleefully thanked Sindri for taking up her cause.

She guided Vetra and Sid deftly through the crowds and onto the one unoccupied space by a tree only slightly higher than the surrounding land where they could get an unobstructed and fairly close look at the fights.

Removing his shirt to bare his skin to the cold wind and quick fold of a red handkerchief from the table where tens of others sat, Sindri wrapped it around his nose and let it drape over his mouth hiding half his face in an impromptu veil. His entry into the tournament was complete.

A little thrill of excitement flashed through her chest as Sindri ascended the steps of the stage and looked back at her one more time.

_"Should I fight for you and Sid?."_

Then to her almost instantaneous reluctance, the crowd fell silent as Sindri was recognized and the entire town glared at him.

She could not quite make out what the older man said to him but he shook his head and his finger at Sindri. Her friend in turn opened his arms and a peal of bell-like laughter escaped his throat.

"If this competition is open to outsiders then it is open to me. Didn't think you men would be so cowed by one disgraced exile."

With a grand gesture towards the crowd, he regarded them with a toothy smile and bowed only to be jeered at and insulted.

"Why do you fear, Darskirr? I am but one man. Double the pride to the man who defeats the Hero of Fulga River and wins the tourney's prize."

Vetra didn't know how he did it or why but he seemed terribly comfortable playing the villain as she overheard some of the murmurings from the crowd around her.

"Gods damn that exile. Might as well make some silver off of him when one of our own humbles him."

Men and women approached the announcer as did Amanda when she scampered off and credits began to rapidly change hands.

The other challengers idled or warmed up as others still now enticed by the idea of fighting Sindri began to tie red handkerchiefs to their arms or necks or foreheads. The human himself began to perform his stretching routine that Vetra and Sid knew so well. As he interlocked both hands behind his back and bowed while bringing his arms up as far as he could he smiled placidly. His people continued to jeer and hiss at him as he came out of the stretch and the smug self-confidence came off him in waves. Vetra wondered how much of that was genuine arrogance and how much of it was feigned. At home, she'd seen how almost chaste he was about letting either Sid or herself see his arms or any skin. Or that first night after his exile where he'd tried so hard to convince her he was a hard man with no heart. And now he stood bare-chested and proud to the people who rejected him.

With a shake of his hand, the fighters began to clear out of the stage.

"Not you." intoned the announcer with a voice little more than a harsh whisper.

"You go first Exile."

Turning to the crowd which was suddenly now completely silent the man raised his hands to the sky.

"Today on the final days of winter we offer up our hands in prayer even as we offer last year's sins into the flames of a new year's pyre. Before we see the path that lies before us we must shed our tears to clear our eyes. Steel sharpening steel, reminding us what it is to fight and suffer and live and test yourself against your fellow man."

"No sun lasts which does not one day lie. With ages pass, even gods may die."

"Even gods may die." intoned the crowd.

"Even gods may die," repeated Sid under her breath as her sister glanced at her.

_How do you know their prayers?_

-0-

Sindri twirled the knives in his hands as he stared serenely at his first opponent.

A young man stepped onto the arena wearing nothing but his pants and no shirt, a wooden targe shield, and a sword in his hands. The man was not Darskirr and he was also nervous. The Exile saluted with his right arm even as the swordsman stopped awkwardly and mimicked the gesture.

The young man had the jitters of a greenhorn, his eyes were too unfocused on him, his gait too fast and his weapons were held too loosely at his sides. His eyes went to his friends at his sides, the announcer and he even turned his head to look back at his family and a young woman who whistled for him. Oh yes, he was not Darskirr. He was not a dancer. A small pang of compassion flashed across Sindri's heart for the young man. He was ignorant and could do with instruction and perhaps with it he could avoid greater injury later.

_No._

Narrowing his eyes slightly Sindri's chest swelled with air and he silently drew it in deeply and quicker than was necessary as his eyes fastened on his adversary's chest. Every movement, every jerky step, and the limp hanging angle of his sword was drunk and quickly assessed. Knowing he couldn't afford to be generous Sindri felt his heart accelerate even as he stood still and breathing hard. He was out of practice, but not by much, he wanted to fight and win. He wanted to humiliate the men present. He wanted to win for Vetra and Sid.

The young man lunged with his sword held in the death grip as he stabbed forward, his face melted from unexperienced viciousness to frightened surprise as the crowd gasped and Sindri's right arm fired outwards shoving the trajectory of the faux-blade to the side with his long-knife's cross-guard as his body yielded out of the way in a heartbeat. The young man cried out in surprise as Sindri's body continued to turn and yield out of the way even as his other arm painted a long red streak across his back in a downwards crossing cut.

Chancing a glance at the trees as he withdrew from his opponent, Sindri saw the looks on his friends' faces.

Sid was looking at him, open-mouthed and wide-eyed as though he'd just done a magic trick.

Vetra covered her mouth as she almost cheered at him. She was smiling and her mandibles twitched with elation.

With an exasperated sigh, Sindri turned again to his adversary as he rolled his eyes. Amanda held her fists to her chest as she bit her lip ridiculously with a bug-eyed stare. She was red in her face, almost turning scarlet, and about ready to explode.

With another charge, the man's targe shield shot out like a cannonball and struck Sindri in the chest. He snarled and again guided away the man's sword with his left arm and sliced across his cheek with the right before kicking him in the chest. Stumbling backward the man spat at the ground and hid behind his shield.

"Fight me fairly!" bellowed the young man.

Tapping his shoe on the ground and twirling the knives in his hands, Sindri let out a barking laugh.

"I am."

"No, you are not! You are using two weapons!"

"You struck me in the chest with your shield, shit-wit."

Turning away from Sindri the young man pleaded with the announcer. Oblivious to the old man's shaking head and the crowd's rising chorus of warnings as Sindri flipped the knife in his hand and threw it at him. The young man winced and recoiled from the sharp blow as he hid behind his shield and reached for his gut finding a new dab of red paint.

The old man scowled at the greenhorn.

"You are finished, boy. Next!"

At this Sindri made to step off the arena before the old man called out to him again.

"Not you, Exile."

His eyes met the old man's for a brief instant before the disdain was plainly written on his wrinkly face.

"You are next."

"I thought this was a round-robin event."

"For the Darskirr it is. You are but the opening act and entertainment for all these good people."

"No chance to rest?"

"You will be buried under the procession of warriors we have waiting for a chance to shame you, snake."

At this Sindri lowered his veil and smiled evilly.

"You honor me greatly. Didn't know you people's only chance of beating me is by burying me under numbers rather than vanquishing me with skill."

The old man narrowed his eyes at him.

"Five minutes recess for you between matches, Exile."

-0-

Sid found it harder and harder to keep still just as the Darskirr around them found it impossible to keep quiet. A procession of fighters approached Sindri in sequence and her big brother's dancing was nothing less than a spectacle. The mix of men that challenged him ranged in size and bulk but all were bigger than him and all of them had different weapons or wielded them in strange new patterns. But without exception, Sindri beat them all without being scored against more than once. It was all she could do but try to not squeak when he put his entire body in motion with some acrobatic somersault or flip or jump. He'd always told her to keep her eyes open and watch and learn from others and Sid in the moments where she could settle found that Sindri's dancing had two speeds. He would 'waltz' as he'd called it which was slower and more tricky and then he'd 'leap' where he'd close the distance rapidly in a swift bound or two and cut more than once. It was here that he scored most of his victories and without exception, any opponent who forced him to leap or jump or flip found themselves off balance, Sindri within their guard and with multiple cuts painted onto them.

She and Amanda held hands as a funny sort of manic joy seized her in proportion with the number of victories her brother accrued. This mirrored how increasingly morose and bellicose the crowd became as each challenger was defeated in turn. What struck her as strange was her sister's nervous silence. She'd seen her watch boxing matches before and Vee was always a loud spectator but now she gasped or winced or covered her mouth every time anyone came close or succeeded in striking Sindri. It was just as well, this was exciting for everyone. But she didn't see why Vee had to be so worked up about, Sindri had three lives and he'd only ever lose one at most.

"Sid! Did you see that?!" cried Amanda, immediately she snapped her head back at the stage and another challenger stomped his foot and threw down his spear. The man angrily wiped away the red paint on his chest as to wipe away the shame. He only succeeded in spreading it all over.

With another courtly bow to the crowd which booed and hissed at him in ever louder tones Sindri raised his wooden blade and saluted his friends and family by the tree.

Amanda whistled at him, long and loud as she clapped excitedly and stood to run to place her bet with the announcer. Sid grabbed onto Vetra and shook her.

"Look! There are only two people left! If Sindri beats them, he wins!"

Vetra nodded her agreement even as she looked away from the Darskirri man on the stage.

The little Turian thought it funny, how blue in the face her sister got every time Sindri raised his blade or bowed elegantly at them.

She couldn't even look at him.

-0-

James breathed deeply as he stood from his shelter in the copse of trees closest to the godheads where his family sat. Double-checking his handkerchief was tied securely to his arm he grimaced sourly at the Exile as he took yet another leisurely victory lap around the arena. He heard what the announcer said. This was mere entertainment, but it turned into something different as the procession of warriors were beaten one by one by the Exile. Now, this tournament was a competition to see who could beat him first so only honest men were fighting over the grand prize. The group was winnowed down over the course of an hour to just two good Darskirr men, of which he was one, and the traitor.

The snake.

Breathing deeply he took his slab-blade and trudged out to the platform.

It was perhaps conniving, but the Exile was no less dishonest, watching him over the past hour had given him great insights into his combat style. He had his flaws. For one he was not as strong as he believed himself to be. Too often his arms yielded to the swing of a blade or the thrust of a spear as he caught the weapon with the cross-guard. But he was quick, James had to admit, and he was certainly swift enough to exploit any gaps in defense to close in and cut with his knives where his opponent could not bring his own weapons to bear. But against a slab-blade, he'd receive no such advantages. The weapon was as long as a man and could reach quite far in sweeping arcs where he couldn't reach or close the distance fast enough.

This Mirrardi slab-blade was the perfect counter to his long-knives.

Smiling confidently to himself he thought of what he could say to the Exile. To humiliate him further. He'd thought of many things and rehearsed everything he wanted to say. This man fought for nothing other than himself. What chance did he really have against James? Especially when he was an hour into fighting.

And very tired.

With his chin held high and his weapon hefted across his shoulders he rose to the platform to modest applause and loud encouragement from his friends, his brother, and Alexandra.

Noticing her cry his name made his stomach flutter.

_This is it. This is going to be the best day of my life. I want to remember every step up this ramp and the look on his face when I shame him in front of the clan and in front of his disgusting aliens. I want to remember how Alexandra and my brother look at me when I kick his ass._

A triumphant smile broke across James' face as he closed in on the Exile who'd only just turned to face him.

"Surprised to see me?"

"Indifferent really."

"You're lying. You were dreading this moment."

"James, you clearly rehearsed a love letter for me so you might as well get on with it."

The tips of his ears felt hot as the Exile smiled with amusement and a few chuckles came from the Darskirr.

"I-"

Realizing he was just playing into the mockery James decided to let go of what he'd planned to say.

"Don't get you. I don't get you. Why aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

"Because I'm made of stone, James. _None_ of you can hurt me."

Hefting the long blade in his hands, he smiled at the Exile.

"You sure about that? Because I'm going to whip you like a dog in front of all these people. And I'm going to win that prize and give it to who deserves it; the most beautiful woman in Grennik."

At this, the Exile's eyebrows shot up and he pulled down his veil.

"A prize deserved by the most beautiful woman in all of Grennik!" he exclaimed as he began to amble, almost drunkenly towards James at an odd angle.

"Yes," James replied with a smirk slowly growing on his face. The Exile was clearly exhausted.

"And I'll tell you, her name is Alexandra Blake."

"Wrong!" Sindri interjected with glee.

"The most beautiful woman in Grennik is the one I came here with and the same one I'll be going home with!"

With the precision of a painter and the enthusiasm of a sadist, the Exile bounded at James with sudden sober alertness and boundless energy.

-0-

The two men traded blows immediately as Sindri made his proclamation and closed the distance with a sudden explosion of violence towards his cousin.

For a brief moment, many eyes turned to look at Amanda. And her eyes in turn glanced at Vetra. With a start, the two men clashed and spun and turned as wooden analogs for steel weapons licked out and sought advantage over one another. Two claws trying to snake their way past a long fang.

Amanda and Sid held hands and jumped with every echoing 'clack' of wood as their armaments clashed.

Vetra felt at that moment like she was watching something happening to her in a different life.

Her years as a smuggler had quickly disabused her or any notion of sentimentality or grandiose spectacles of honor or dignity. All her work had lent itself to were cloaks and daggers and the constant, persistent concern of who would betray you now and who would do so later. But sooner or later, everyone in the business backstabs somebody. And the people who weren't part of that life just wanted to get something out of you. Everything served a purpose to further someone's wealth or agenda. All feelings were a liability and every action one took was little more than a calculation to improve your odds of avoiding the authorities or that bullet from a jealous rival or a trusted ally for another day. Vetra Nyx's life was nothing more than numbers and odds in a crumpled spreadsheet in her mind with too many eraser marks for comfort. And all these calculations spun around Sid, the single good thing and the unmoving axis around which her life revolved.

Until recently.

This is why all the ridiculous things that happened to other people once in their lifetime along with the grandiose expressions that followed them were things she knew would never happen to her.

Sindri Bogatyr was not going to fight for her honor, a prize to help them get off-planet or declare her the most "beautiful woman" in Grennik.

No. These things would not happen to her.

And she would most certainly not feel her cheeks flush or her palms sweat or her heart race. And she would most certainly not try to suppress the roiling swarm of butterflies in her stomach. The cloud of which shuddered whenever James swung with reckless force at Sindri who narrowly but quickly spun, reflected, or dodged out of the way.

_Alright, Nyx. You need to calm down, Sindri didn't mean anything by this. He's your best friend and he's just being very Darskirri. He thinks Turians are disgusting, but he does love you like he loves Sid. Don't make it weird and don't mess up what we've got with him. Besides it's not like he would seriously think about you like that- Oh spirits! Watch out!_

A sudden jolt of real terror electrified Vetra as she flinched with the force of James' wild swing; which surprisingly Sindri caught with both blades. Driving it down to the floor before stomping the blade out of James' hand. Sindri snarled cutting him with both knives as his body rose up and against his cousin who struggled to hold onto his own long sword.

Laughter bubbled out of Sindri's guts even as James practically stumbled backward and away from him.

"You got tired of swinging that thing already?" he said between malicious bouts of laughter.

"Shut up! You cheated, you swine! You traitor!"

Smiling still, Sindri slipped both daggers into his belt and picked up the slab-blade and with greater ease than James did when he was fresh.

"What do you call a man, who is beaten with his own sword?"

James ran away from Sindri.

He didn't get far.

-0-

The crowd erupted into cheers and shouts of encouragement as Nikita, ascended the steps of the arena with his weapon propped up against his wide chest. The man regarded the Exile evenly, watching the smug smile fade off his face. It was perhaps supremely foolish to get into a match with a Dubeka knife-fighter. But he was not about to let him win anything. Much less the honor of having bested the whole procession of dancers that had preceded him and take first prize.

He had dreaded a confrontation with the Exile for a long time. But this was just a friendly competition even if James could not resist escalating it.

Oh well. He'd warned his baby brother.

_The Exile is going to trick you._

But Nikita had not kept up with his dancing since he was a boy just to have the Hero of Fulga River get one over him.

He couldn't. This was about pride. The Exile had willingly turned his back on everything the clan stood for and for nothing but a stray Turian female and her sister. He was crazy and he had no place in triumphing over the honest humanity of the clan. Especially now, feeling all eyes upon him Nikita swore in silence that he would not fail. He could not fail. A silent prayer, for the universe, did have a sense of humor it was said amongst the Darskirr. Even more so if the man who speaks it is undone by the monster who is the intended target of it. But it would be a lesser humiliation altogether if he should just keep his parochial requests to himself instead of uttering them and losing.

With one arm he held the sword up and saluted his banished counterpart, who indeed looked surprised before a cold look glazed his eyes and he pulled up his veil again. His heel turned outwards to Nikita and he held out one long knife straight at him while the other hid behind his duelist's form.

He'd watched closely during every bout and gotten a sense of what the Exile did and how his knife-fighting worked. There was a minimum range where the Exile was at his best and while he was wickedly fast in closing, the slab-blade went past this point and generously so. Nikita knew that the Exile became aware of the danger with James never having crossed blades with a slab before. So he'd feigned frantic exhaustion and just crossed that line to then stomp the weapon out of his hands.

Clever

But Nikita was more experienced. And he knew him.

That look.

That same look he'd seen on him the day he had challenged Nikita to a fistfight after he'd murdered Callux.

The same look he'd seen on his face when so recently he was out and about with his Turians.

The Exile was here, but in his mind, he was back on that lonely, frozen street all those years ago holding his dead friend.

Springing first the Exile shot forward like an arrow and Nikita stumbled backward on purpose as he swung feebly to his adversary's dominant right side. Not realizing the trap, Nikita leaped like a dancer, backward and to his left, as his blade rotated with the same velocity his body turned. The wooden edge of the slab-blade turned in a 360-degree arc with the momentum of a one hundred kilogram man putting his arms and his back into a single strike.

The blade irresistibly snapped the wooden blade of Sindri's left hand and cut across his collarbone as the blade dragged him to the ground painted the raking streak red in its wake.

To his credit, the Exile hissed but did not cry out in pain but the look in his eyes betrayed the pain and surprise he was experiencing. Pain and surprise that only intensified as Nikita turned one swing into an overhand chop and slashed the edge of his blade into the second mark on Sindri's shoulder pushing him to the ground further.

But what he saw there for an instant frightened him; for a moment he saw the same bottomless, pitiless hatred that welled up in the Exile whenever he'd spoken about the Turians all those years ago. The same boundless enmity he'd seen in his eyes when he'd first arrived in Kuov a broken seventeen-year-old man with a lot of blood on his hands and a head full of bad memories because of aliens who sought to kill them all. Down to the last child.

Dropping the broken long-knife his hand shot out like a viper and clamped around his neck to hold him close. With a bellowing scream tearing out of his throat his remaining dagger shot out to Nikita's face.

The man at that instant felt both a pang of sympathy for the horrors the Turian invaders must have experienced and a jolt of fear for permanent injury.

So he swung away with the wooden slab-blade still trapped between the two men. He swung away from his entire body with the blade.

Ripping the Exile's hand off his throat.

And carrying the banished traitor along the edge of the sword and off his feet.

-0-

The Exile flew for a brief second or two, then he landed hard on his back. The choleric mania that seized him was gone. As he froze, looking at the bright red stain belted across his abdomen, the air shook with the roar of triumph from his entire former clan.

People bounded up the platform to embrace their champion even as he slowly (and sorely) sat back up, taking care to not allow himself to be stepped on, and simply dropped his remaining knife and walked over towards his group sheepishly scratching his head.

Alexandra was elated, she knew now was the moment. Now she'd see tears, or rage, or frothing spite. Now, the Exile would make a complete mockery of himself.

His two aliens approached him and quickly, the faces full of mock concern for their top defender. Amanda followed pace touching Sindri's chest with clinical attention, probably assessing his well-deserved bruises and cuts. The little one reached up and the Exile kneeled as she embraced him.

_Cute, but that thing will never be your kindred._

Turning around Nikita held up his slab-blade and whooped in triumph as hands clapped him on the back and shoulders. With an elated smile from ear to ear he approached the treasure pile and amongst the motley assortment of goods, he snatched up the red sack, full of credits, and tied it to his belt.

"First three rounds at Old Jinn are on me!" he cried to universal praise and the mob's revelers splintered off with him to go head to the bar in question.

Running her hands through her jet black hair a smile cut across her fair face. She rocked her hips almost imperceptibly to the rhythm music only her heart could hear.

Turning on her heel she looked at the quartet again and the smile died on her lips.

The older Turian embraced the Exile and when they came apart she held onto his arms and looked him over with a concern that spilled plainly through her eyes. An earnest laugh bubbled out of the man as he grabbed the Turian and shook her amicably as she looked away from him and blinked away the embarrassment. Then with surprising tenderness, he grasped her hand and held it to his brow as he inclined his head and placed his other hand atop his heart.

He turned his group away and towards the treasure pile as she watched on in mute bewilderment as the Exile began to sift through the treasure horde quickly settling on the little bag that sat between the larger silver necklaces and polished turquoise rings.

Holding the bag to his chest with a genuine smile the older Turian asked him what it was.

"Oh, you'll see in a few weeks."

Alexandra's eyes fastened on the bag and realized those were wildflower seeds.

Revulsion rose in her gut like an unstoppable tide and she felt sick. Staggering away from the platform she imagined the Exile planting them. The Turian's malformed smile as she accepted them. That _thing_ didn't deserve those flowers.

She did.

Alexandra was halfway to Old Jinn before she realized she was crying, and it took her the other half of the way to decide she was going to drown her sorrows at the bottom of a bottle.

-0-

The day's revelry had wound down in relatively good order. The devout had made their offerings for New Year's Pyre and the challengers had all left to drink at Nikita's generous expense but they'd done so in good humor. After all, they had a new legend in their midst. He'd bested the former Hero of Fulga River and that was no mean feat by anyone's judgment. It was all they spoke about in Grennik.

It was all they could talk about as the non-humans of the town made their way to The Apothecary.

Perhaps the tone and general jubilation at Sindri's expense would have put Vetra in a bitter mood any other day but she couldn't help but a sort of giddiness that she was not at all used to. It was enough to make her mandibles rise to the corners of her mouth in a big toothy grin. She could feel the sighing vocalization to chirp struggling to rise out of her throat. With a little modest embarrassment, she shook her head.

_What am I? A teenager? Stop that._

She tensed for a split second as just the start of one slipped out of her mouth as she lost concentration thinking she'd been called by her sister. Thankfully no one looked at her or acknowledged the sound. Perhaps they hadn't heard.

Thinking for a moment of the first real hug she'd ever given Sindri made her anxious. He'd fought ferociously but been resoundingly beaten by his cousin and she didn't know what else to do but embrace him and awkwardly resist the impulse to pat him on the back or tell him "Good job, dude". It would be incongruous. Considering the ragged bruise that was already beginning to emerge from his fair skin where his kin had struck him. Tears had welled in her eyes though she blinked them away quickly even as he laughingly comforted her. She hadn't been upset by the whole thing, not really. But she felt she had been sucked into the moment of the duel too deeply, however, Sindri was likely to tease her for it for years to come, surely. Granted she hadn't vocalized it but she only had that emotional outburst because she cared about him. He knew that, didn't he? Yeah, he did. He had to.

Vetra for her own part buried such thoughts as she moved furniture about as more and more chairs appeared and tables were brought out to the business' entrance. Now as when she'd first come to the place she marveled at how very much like someone's home this place was decorated and furnished. The walls lined with photographs of various residents past and present of the town as well as more than a few nicknacks and mementos. More than a few flags from distant worlds hung from columns where they rested and every seat available was comfortably appointed. Grin scooted about in her strange little rapid shuffle as she made micro-adjustments to the furniture's positioning while Amanda and Mrs. Rivana helped make the arrangements. Sid for her own part came out quickly with more dishes and finger foods from the kitchen having been taken under Sindri's wing to do "men's work."

Despite the ridiculousness of the day and her own morass of jittery feelings and anxious questions, the evening celebrations of The Apothecary was something she was looking forward to.

As Grin had explained hours earlier while they made ready, Sindri enjoyed New Year's Pyre and it was the one Darskirri holiday he'd partake in. And the celebration was always well received, if not for the music, the ale and the company then for how remarkably well made the food was.

Her attention drew to Amanda who waved her over as Sindri passed by with a huge pot of potato soup to be set at the round table.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Vetra as Amanda grabbed both her hands and smiled warmly.

"I just wanted to ask, and tell me if it's none of my business but how long have you two been dating?"

At this Vetra blinked as her brow furrowed and her mandibles hugged her jaw tight in genuine thought.

"Who?"

"You and Sindri?"

"We are not." she exclaimed, a little louder than was prudent.

"No? I'm sorry, I just thought. He seems like himself again after all these years. And you two get along so well."

"No, we are just really good friends. Besides, he's Darskirr. I doubt he'd ever even think of an Asari, to say nothing of a Turian."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Vee."

"Why?"

"He got you flower seeds."

"That little bag on the pile were flower seeds?"

"Yup."

"Amanda, flowers don't mean anything. He's a regular gardener at home."

With a conspiratorial grin, Amanda came a little closer and whispered.

"You know surprisingly little about their men, for having lived with one for so long. You see, Darskirri men's approach to dating is that if they are seriously considering a woman who has caught their eye they grow flowers for them. If they still want to pursue the woman after the flowers are in bloom then they pluck them and offer her a token of his affection that he's nurtured to life. That's how you can tell if one of their men is serious about you if he comes with flowers or not."

At this, a deep blue shade came over Vetra's face.

"You are reading too deep into it. He's just being dramatic."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I mean it. At work he's positively cheerful and gregarious again. I hadn't given it much thought but it makes sense if you started living with him almost half a year ago."

"That's just because of Sid. He's happy to have a little sister again."

"Nu-uh. What about you little miss, _most beautiful_? He wasn't talking about me."

Vetra's mandibles fluttered for a moment and she felt her lungs clench for a second, almost afraid of entertaining the topic being discussed with any seriousness. What did it matter if he did or did not like her?

"Ok, let's say that what you are saying is true. What do I do with it?"

Amanda laughed.

"You are such a ditz! What do you mean? You should love him back! Do you love him?"

_The answer isn't no._

Vetra emphatically shook her head.

"I-I don't!"

"And I suppose that's why you are turning blue?"

"No! I'm turning blue because you are being ridiculous and asking me about something embarrassing."

The human frowned lightly as she broke eye contact with the Turian.

"Ok, I just thought you should ask him how he feels tonight."

"Why tonight?"

"Because one of the non-Darskirr human girls asked him out and he said he'd think about it."

Vetra's posture slumped by about a shade and the disappointment was written plainly on her face. In a brief instant, she felt a sudden pang of possessive irritation. Who was this person? And what right did she have to ask Sindri such a thing? If even Amanda didn't know her name, then she was an outsider in Sindri's life. Suddenly feeling very foolish she looked away and to the man himself as he hurriedly continued to carry dishes to the tables with her kid sister.

"Oh. Ok, he didn't tell me anything about it."

With a smirk that glittered with gratification, Amanda tapped her foot as she squeezed Vetra's hands.

"Nobody asked him out did they, Amanda?"

"I knew it! You do _like_ him!"

"I'm going to kill you."

Holding her hands up to ward away the huge Turian, the human took more than a few steps back.

"How about instead of killing me, you go get yourself a boyfriend."

"I am not going to ruin the friendship I have with him by asking such a stupid question and making it awkward at home, you idiot."

"No! I'm talking about seduction!. What if we get you looking your best and you just _present_ yourself, innocently of course, and you gauge his reaction? He's already going to plant flowers for you, it's a sign!"

"He never said they were for me."

"But he fought for you! He won them for you! C'mon, this is the first time I've ever seen him express interest in a girl and he's such an old maid as far as Darskirri men go it's not even funny."

Vetra laughed in spite of her self, even as her better instincts warned her to stop.

"Fine."


	11. A Seed

**Hello there friends, I hope the day finds you well. I beg you for some feedback on this chapter more out of nerves than anything else as I have no experience writing anything approaching romance. I would treasure any feedback both good and bad, it would be great and it would help me grow as a writer. I hope you enjoy.**

**-Old Night**

Sindri wiped his brow as he stirred a few more of his dishes with one hand while carefully cupping a handful of finely ground chicken in the other as he fought the present ache across his chest and on his right shoulder. A surge of concern accelerated his hand's motions as he heard the door in the entry hall open and the muffled sounds of friendly greetings disrupted the hissing of his busy kitchen. In retrospect, he was glad Sid took to cooking with him so amicably. Even if it was not for women to sully their hands by creating the nourishment for their families, he did think much like his late father that everyone should know how to cook. Rolling the ground chicken into a tight ball before covering it with rich batter he was reminded for a moment of how it was said that on ancient Earth, women did most of the gardening and cooking as it was their assigned role.

_Ridiculous_

Turning the little batter ball in his hand he dropped it into the boiling oil as the smell of warm bread and seasoned fowl began to fill the room.

He smiled.

"What's that?" asked Sid as she stood next to him peering into the bubbling pot.

"These are cochinnias. A little treat from back home in Dubek."

"Did your mom cook them?"

"My mother didn't cook. That's men's jobs to cook for their wives and families."

"Why don't Darskirri women cook?"

Stirring the little cochinnias with a steady hand as they changed color to an orange-brown, Sindri patted Sid on the back with a smile on his face.

"If you start a job, then you ought to finish it. Women shouldn't have to get their hands dirty by rooting through the garden or hunting for dinner. Men catch and harvest the food so they also cook and prepare it. Women's hands are better suited for other things."

"Like what?"

"Making things. It is said amongst the men of our clans: Home does not rest upon the hearth but upon your woman. Our women typically pick up the trades that make the home. They make clothing for their families, tools for their men, and not an insignificant amount of them do good carpentry."

"Did your mom make you your poncho?"

"That she did."

"Do you miss her?"

"Every day."

"Do you think she would have liked me and Vee?"

The smile died on Sindri's lips as he removed one browned sweetmeat and replaced it with another.

"I don't know, to be perfectly honest."

"Is it because we are Turians?"

"She never met one who wasn't trying to kill her. But if she met you and your sister then she might have liked just you two."

The little Turian grabbed a set of wooden spoons to her right recognizing that her older brother was finished with them. With a little pout on her face, she dunked them in the sink and wiped most of the solids away before beginning to scrub them clean with a sponge.

"I don't remember my parents, so I don't know if they would have liked you. But I love you, so I think they would."

Smiling again Sindri nodded, his good humor returning instantaneously.

"Vee loves you too."

"I'm glad. I was concerned for a long time that she didn't."

Sid shook her head emphatically and dropped the spoon as she gesticulated excitedly lightly splashing her shirt with soap water.

"How come?"

"We would say hard things to each other before we started getting along. So I worried."

"Do you want me to ask her?"

"No, Sid. If I really want to know, I'll ask myself."

"Ok, because she and Amanda went out to get you a present."

Stopping for a split second and turning with demure interest, Sindri looked at Sid with a satisfied smirk.

"Really?"

"Yup. But I wasn't supposed to say anything, so don't tell them. I just don't want you to think Vee hates you or anything."

"What are they getting me?"

"I dunno."

With an exasperated sigh, Sindri shook his head and replaced one cooked Cochinnia with another.

_Ridiculous woman_

A smile crept across the man's face as he thought of Vetra. He knew he'd gotten to her. Gods forgive his selfishness. A kinder man would have perhaps offered everything he had without expectation of reciprocation but Sindri was not; and he certainly knew that Vetra was developing warm feelings for him and it had delighted him to no end.

At first, he'd just hoped she wouldn't keep him at arm's length, and over time he'd gotten what he wanted. She had genuinely come to care about him. And despite her early protestations to the contrary, she did obviously find comfort in having him around and in his attentions for both Sid and herself. He had suspected that someone like Vetra who'd had a harsh life with less than honest company by her own admission would be hardened and wary of vulnerability, but goodness he'd craved her friendship so badly.

There was something refreshing in the earnestness of Turians. They were honest and responsible and reliable and most of all selfless. And truth be told he understood their mindset firsthand and appreciated their race's quirks.

Callux had been that way, and so was she.

But now that he'd seen how blue in the face she'd gotten during the fights. How she jumped and breathlessly squirmed in place whenever he won and how she'd teared up and embraced him after his defeat he began to consider.

And to worry.

Perhaps he'd taken it too far and she was getting too attached.

He chastised himself.

_You fool, Vetra is lonely. You know that. Why did you go out of your way to make a scene?_

When he'd surreptitiously referred to her as the most beautiful woman in Grennik, he had just wanted to make her happy. And what more, he'd meant it. She was a wonderful woman with a ferocious heart and good character. It was a kind of beauty that perhaps was not apparent at first, but it was precious in its value. And she had honor; even if she didn't know it. This was why he wanted to make her feel special; why he fought and why he chose the flower seeds. Because she deserved to be fought for. She deserved flowers.

And if no Turian would do it, then he would.

_I will never be able to repay her for everything she's done for me. Pouring all the love I have into her is the least I can do, and it's fine, she's a Turian after all._

The thought of presenting her with flowers brought a little warmth to his fair cheeks.

She wouldn't look at him askance for the meaning behind being brought flowers by a Darskirri man, but he hoped she'd appreciate the gesture.

"You're burning that one."

With a quick flick of his wrist, he dropped the wooden spoon and cursed under his breath.

"Don't burn the cochinni-things."

"Of course, Sid."

-0-

"Do you think he'll like it?"

"Yes, Vetra," Amanda replied for what felt like the tenth time as her tone became proportionately less sweet.

The day had been exciting to be sure and it had been a rare treat to see her employer and friend so engaged as to fight again. But she'd lost about a hundred credits altogether after he was defeated in that final bout. It was difficult not to feel sour about his loss however, she'd actually accrued several thousand credits in her favor until the end. So good where the odds and so dogged were the Darskirr's insistence to bet against Sindri that she had raked in considerable cash.

Only for his cousin to practically cheat with a sword that was bigger than she was.

Still, she resolved. If she was going to be robbed of the Stardust Supernova concert then she was going to create her own entertainment and help her friends along.

"Do you own any clothing that isn't boots, jackets, and spats?"

"I-uh. No."

Amanda watched Vetra placidly as the big Turian stressed and struggled behind the changing veil in room 6.

"C'mon Vee, you have to have something decent to wear. When was the last time you went on a date?"

"Ugh, don't ask me that."

"Ok, I just think that if you want to catch his eye you need to dress to impress."

"I'm not dressing up like a tart. Besides, what was wrong with the gray outfit?"

"That's not what I'm asking. All I'm suggesting is that you not wear something that a woman who is going to go out to chop wood would wear."

The Turian snorted behind the veil and tossed yet another shirt over its side.

Smiling, the young woman enjoyed the stress the older sister was experiencing. She knew that what Vetra wore was not as important than what she was going to do. Over many years Amanda had come to pick up some understanding of how the Darskirr approached things and more than one man had approached her with flowers. God help her, the clans were bizarre and she could never live that life but they had more than a few surprisingly sweet customs.

And Vetra knew none of them.

Which is why she'd so adamantly suggested getting Sindri a new set of clothes.

Women get flowers and if they reciprocate they give the men an article of clothing she made (or traded) for him. And Amanda knew that if anything would provoke a reaction out of Sindri, it would be a bundle of new clothes from his favorite Turian.

"Ok, so how's this?" said Vetra as she stepped out from behind the curtain.

Amanda's eyes brightened as she stood proud and tall wearing a set of black spats (again) with a bright cyan sleeveless shirt which generously showed off her shoulders down to her hands and framed her collar with a tidy neckline.

"I think that's the best out of the set. And just for a little extra spice, I got this off the coatrack," she said as she unfolded and presented Sindri's poncho from where she'd folded it on her lap.

"Absolutely not. I am not wearing that."

"Why, is it gross? I think you'd look good with his little wrap-around over your blue shirt, especially if you drape it so it only covers half your body."

"It's not gross. I am not going to put on his dead mother's last gift to him knowing that the Turian military killed her."

"He lets me wear it when I'm cold, Vee. It isn't some holy grail that he will burn you if you touch it."

"That's different, you are human."

"It's too intimate to wear his poncho; says the woman who he invited to live with him in his house. Trust me, Vee. Wear it. It's kind of a lowkey way of flirting by humans if a girl wears a piece of clothing that belongs to a guy."

With some hesitation Vetra reached out a lightly touched to old fabric, she wondered for a moment how many sights the homespun cloak had seen, how many highs and lows it'd been witness to. And how angry would Sindri be if she wore it.

"Just relax, Vee. I think this will turn out great."

-0-

Sindri stepped out of the kitchen with his billowy uniform sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a tall carafe of spicy smelling tea as Sid followed him with a plate stacked high with cochinnias.

Withdrawing from his well-loved kitchen and into the living room/reception hall of The Apothecary he felt a bubbly sort of elation for all the strange but friendly faces that greeted him. About two dozen altogether of the finest aliens Grennik had to offer and all of them genuinely happy to spend their new year's eve with him in his business rather than at home. It was all more than he deserved and often times he felt a real ache, a longing to see Callux again and show him what had become of the fruits of their joint idea.

A petty desire, but one that came around once a year.

The faces sometimes changed from year to year but none went missing for more than a single winter in between. Amanda, whose family lived in Kuov genuinely seemed to enjoy the cozy set up of the place so she would never miss a single holiday. Grin had no family on Mirrard and for her own part seemed to enjoy the holiday as much as she'd enjoy any other day. In fact, she seemed more comfortable with the routines and expectations of work than the chaos of a celebration with unfamiliar faces. Jordun, the local Krogan street tough turned carpenter, had long made it his own kind of yearly ritual to come spend New Year's Pyre at The Apothecary and he was the only one who earnestly participated the way a Darskirr would. Callux had once joked that the two would learn the complete body of sins of the other if they continued trying to outdo one another. The comment had once given him chills but there was nothing he'd done that Callux did not know and accept him for anyway.

Passing by the center table and setting down the tea, he gestured for Sid to pass him the plate she was holding before setting it down to a very appreciative host of guests.

It pleased him to see everyone's faces turn into smiles and happy tones as they thanked him and continued to chatter and drink happily as well as sneak the odd bite (even though they were not supposed to). Grin looked about as she nursed a drink with her silly straw before clinking her glass loud enough that it carried through the room.

"Hello everyone, I believe you all know each other. Tonight we will celebrate the ancient Darskirri holiday New Year's Pyre, it is less ancient than Sur'Ha-Gunva by several millennia but it is well established nonetheless. Please enjoy your food after Sindri finishes the customary prayer. You may join if you like or not as it is a prayer directed at his gods specifically."

Shaking the grin off his face Sindri patted Sid to grab a seat by Vetra only to look around and see that she was not present.

"Should we wait for her?" asked Sid as the people looked at him expectantly.

"She's not the praying sort. Here, let's stand over there and give everyone some room."

Standing straight and reassuming some of the decorum earnest prayers demanded he took command of the room on the space by the fire. As she followed closely, he tapped Sid's leg with his foot playfully as much as to amuse her as to be rid of his own nerves. So often before had he spoken the words and felt nothing since his Callux was lost and it still shamed him a little to offer prayer anyway. His friends wanted to hear him speak as they did one another during holidays spent at his clinic. The kindness was as much for them as it was for him, so sure he was that he was simply being indulged.

With a little reverence, Sindri Bogatyr turned to the little cubby above the fireplace and smiled as he reached for a small wooden box made of cedar foreign to this world. Reaching inside for a finger's worth of orange-hued ash he smeared a little streak of it on his sternum inside his black shirt.

His gaze flicked narrowly at his little sister who looked at him curiously. Kneeling by her he held up his orange, ashen finger and offered it to her and she assented, puffing out her chest as he smeared a little on her shirt.

Snapping the lid closed and placing the box back where it belonged he clasped his hands and bowed his head once he turned to his guests.

"This dust smells nice," said Sid as she stood close next to him and clasped her hands.

Taking a deep breath the Exile let the scent bring forth old memories; a sense of warmth washed over him and to his surprise, he felt at home. It was then it occurred to him that he'd forgotten about the phantom pain he felt in his heart. The hole in his chest that ached every day. And he didn't feel angry, not at all. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like venom coursed through his veins. The old pain eluded him like mist in the morning dawn and with each successive breath, Sindri felt himself smile. It crept across his face with it came a deep longing to see his family again.

Not because of pain or anger or fright. But to share the moment with them and everything he'd done.

And his Turians.

_We are judged in life, by the challenges we overcome. Both within and without._

_We are judged in death, by the legacy we leave behind. For our kith and kin._

_Now on New Year's Pyre, we offer up that which should set with the dying light of a year well-lived._

_The pyre burns, o' I pray, all throughout the night._

Sindri opened his eyes as the warm words rose in his chest and his gaze fell onto Vetra. She stood apart from those seated next to Amanda who mirrored his and Sid's clasped hands. The prayer stopped and his eyes looked the older Turian from the top of her crest to her shoes. This was something unusual. Vetra was wearing a bright cyan, sleeveless shirt, and Amanda's silver star necklace. Very attention-grabbing, very feminine, very unlike her. And draped over her shoulder covering half her body to her thighs was his poncho, woven by his mother's hands almost two decades earlier. He stopped the prayer his mouth still slightly open, frozen in the motion of forming the words. Eyes turned away from the man and to the Turian as her eyes pinned and her mandibles hugged her jaw tightly. With a single nervous look at the human Vetra's hand reached to the collar of the poncho.

"Don't take it off."

She stopped and crossed her arms, holding herself.

"It looks nice on you, as does the necklace."

Closing his eyes once more, Sindri began the prayer again.

Even as other guests shared curious or knowing looks at one another and Amanda's foot tapped Vetra and she was swatted on the arm for her trouble.

_We feed the fire, we fan the flames._

_Where there is uncertainty, I shall be steadfast._

_Where there is doubt, I shall be faithful._

_Where there is rage, I shall stay its course._

_Where there is shame, I shall seek atonement._

_The pyre burns, o' I pray, all throughout the night._

_We are strong, for we despise weakness. We detest it in all others, but none so much as within ourselves._

_The pyre burns and our past shortcomings burn with it._

_So let it be, as it was, on the sands of hallowed Mars._

_The pyre burns, o' I pray, all throughout the night._

"Even gods may die." finished Sid, looking at her brother for approval.

"Well said, little sister."

-0-

Vetra felt a little flush across her face as she nibbled at her food. Sindri noticed the effort in her appearance even if she was wearing something simple and one of Amanda's necklaces. She wasn't sure when she should give Sindri his gift but every time she felt the courage rising in her chest she immediately froze in a mute panic thinking about what a scene it would make if she gave him his present in front of everyone. She'd have to ambush him in private with it. Cursing internally she regretted having set the gifts under her chair and between her legs. Oh well, at least that would be the smallest problem she'd have all night.

"So as Amanda tells the story, Sindri. You got kicked out of the clan, that true?" rumbled Jordun as he took a long drag from his acrid smelling drink.

Looking up from his own mug of spicy smelling tea the human grinned at his friend with a little modest pleasure.

"There is more to it than that, but yes."

"Yeah, two more things." the Krogan interjected as he winked at Vetra and Sid who smiled at him and the latter looked at her brother.

"I know tribes' important to you, Sin. But good riddance, regular zit in my ass those people are."

"Speaking of pains in one's bottoms. What is it like living with two Turians, Sindri? Given the racial acrimony between your peoples it must have been taxing?" asked Grin in her clipped cadence as she put her silly straw in her drink.

With a smug glance at her, Sindri threw up his hands.

"The little one is sweet, she tries hard and I am proud of her. The big one is a troublemaker."

Vetra smiled.

"Always giving me problems, always copping an attitude. Impertinent and disrespectful this one, Ms. Nyx."

"You are being, sarcastic?" asked Grin as she looked at him, puzzled.

"Yes, Grin."

"I knew it." she started, pleased with herself and looking at the others with a big smile.

"Mr. Callux would have been pleased to see you have made two new Turian friends."

"Sindri isn't just my friend, he's my big brother." quipped Sid between mouthfuls of noodles.

The look in Sindri's eyes softened and he looked at Vetra.

In her chest, her heart jumped and her smile widened.

"He would definitely have teased me for the mess I got into."

"Was it worth it?" purred Amanda from across the table while stealing a little conspiratorial glance at Vetra.

With a barking laugh, the man rose from his seat.

"If you are going to start asking me personal questions I need to start drinking."

As he walked away to the kitchen Amanda gave Vetra a meaningful look.

With a little shudder of nerves, the Turian got up from her seat after Sindri entered the kitchen and she followed after him, gift bag in hand.

"What are you up to?"

Looking at Mrs. Rivana and twirling a braid around her fingers, Amanda smirked.

"Just helping my buddies along."

-0-

Hearing the kitchen doors open Sindri turned with an unopened ale in his hand. The Turian looked anxious and held both her hands behind her back.

"Was I mean? You know I like to tease you."

Vetra shook her head and stepped forward with a little ambivalence and her eyes refused to meet his gaze.

"No, uh. You were fine. I just-I wanted to give you something."

"My friend, you don't have to get me anything in exchange for the furniture. I did it because I wanted to take care of you two."

Taking a deep breath and closing the distance between them both Vetra swung her hands over gingerly with a neatly folded bag with red gift paper peeking out of it.

"What's this?"

"I want to get you a gift. After the tournament today I feel you deserved it."

With a genuine smile, Sindri took the bag in his hands and bowed his head an increment.

"You honor me. Thank you."

"Open it, I want to know what you think."

Looking into the bag Sindri saw a handsome black button-down shirt a darker hue than his hair and a pair of jeans to go with it. A real leather belt sat wrapped on top of both and a pair of classier leather shoes to go with it.

The smile faded from his face by a shade. Looking up at the Turian in front of him suddenly his ears felt very warm.

"Clothes? Why clothes?"

"Are they the wrong size? I thought I had the-"

"No, Vee. I'm sure they are fine. I'm just unused to receiving gifts and you are making me nervous."

At this, the Turian smiled at him.

"Yeah well. You were making me plenty nervous too today. Besides, if you are going to go through the trouble of growing flowers then I could spare a minute to buy you a nice outfit."

Sindri stood still even as his heart skipped a beat.

"Go ahead and put it on. I'll go back to the party."

"You know, flowers are good because they take a long while to grow. It gives me time to ensure I get them right and that I am sure I want to give them to you."

Vetra stopped and looked back at Sindri who hadn't moved from his spot or relaxed his posture. Her face flushed blue for an instant.

"Are you saying you weren't sure about the flowers?"

"No! I'm just shocked, to be honest. That you'd actually welcome flowers from me."

Stepping backward and biting her lip in idle nerves Vetra reached to open the door to the dining room.

"I wouldn't say no to flowers from you. So get dressed and come out, I want to see how you look in something that isn't army fatigues or a uniform."

And with that, he was alone in the kitchen, the sound of laughter from four different species carrying through the walls and wooden door.

_She knows? She knew what the flowers mean to my people. And she got me clothes? She knew! What do I do?_

Vetra Nyx was reciprocating in the Darskirri way. He didn't think it could ever conceivably come to this but it had.

_I just wanted to be kind and get her flowers, I didn't mean to actually court her. What do I do with her? She's actually been interested in me all this time? Oh, Gods why did I make a spectacle of myself today? Would she even be happy with a man like me? With a human?_

Panic seized him as he stood stock-still, so swallowed by his thoughts and the sudden rush of percussive heartbeats in his chest.

_Vetra is my closest friend, I don't want to hurt her. But she's already expecting me to actually go through with courting her if I am growing flowers and if I just tell her I didn't mean for her to take it that way it would humiliate her and break her heart. If I go through with it and hate it then I'd break her heart still. _

Sindri looked at the clothes in the bag he held and out of the corner of his eye he saw the little seed bag, still fastened by a single strand of rough twine to his key rings.

A bag of seeds.

Nothing more than a promise of something beautiful, if one had the good sense to nurture it to life, or to let it grow at its own pace after letting nature take its course.

_Is this natural?_

He thought of Vetra. Her voice and her face, the trilling sound of her laughter and the feel of her skin. The thought brought him a warm comfort despite the brand burning across his brain glowing with the knowledge that she was never going to be a human. He'd already broken many taboos but where it came to loving an alien he'd always done so in a platonic fashion. But if he went through with this, if he gave her flowers, then this would be a step too far.

He'd be committing a sin, something deeply unnatural.

_Do I allow myself to let this seed grow?_

The thought came to him, unbidden, of Vetra suddenly being absent from his life. Sid somehow still in the picture but the elder sister gone. It made him recoil to think of the hole this would leave in the house. The thought of her with another man bothered him. She was not unnatural, neither was coming to care deeply about her; his Turian, his Vetra.

_Do I love her?_

It was not the Darskirri way to do things by half. Not in war, not in craft, and not in love. If he was going to allow whatever this seed was to grow and nurture what it would blossom into then he should embrace it fully and without shame.

_Shame._

_You deserve a better man than me, Vetra. You deserve to be with someone who isn't a coward._

_It is what I am. But not what I will be; for you and the little one. All of us three._

Peeking again into the bag he smiled with boyish enthusiasm at the thought of belonging to Vetra and didn't fight the stream of joy that was threatening to drown him.

-0-

A loud creak and a sudden but brief burst of frigid air cut through the hall as a few stumbling steps announced a latecomer to the celebrations.

Taking a long sip from her dextro-ale the Turian smiled quietly thinking about the quiet pleasure of Sid, Sindri, and herself sitting together in their own section of tables.

One glance at Amanda's face as she put her drink down and suddenly stood up putting on a fake smile dashed the good feelings.

"Doctor, doctor! I'm unwell, I need you to take care of me."

Turning her head at the slurring, hissing tone she saw Alexandra stumbling her way towards the tables stopping just short as she looked at the back of one of the Krogans present.

"Hey, babe! What's up?" started Amanda as she stood and scooted to quickly come to the drunk Darskirr's side. "I can pull you a plate and some food for you to eat with me, come have-"

"I don't share a meal with aliens, Amanda. They are dirty."

Interlocking her hands and holding them behind her waist Amanda smiled patiently.

"Honey you came at a bad time. And you know you can't be here, Sindri's an exile."

"Psh-what does it matter to me? He's a healer and I'm hurt and he needs to take care of me."

"Alex, you're really drunk and aren't thinking clearly. How about you come sit in the living room and I bring you some water and a warm plate of food?"

The woman swayed as her eyes dragged away from the medical assistant in front of her and scanned the room. Her green eyes wandered to each face unlike her own and sneered until she found Vetra who pointedly ignored her.

"And _you_."

Unperturbed Vetra raised her chin and glowered at the young, raven-haired woman.

"What did you do to him?" Alexandra slurred even as Amanda tried to guide her away.

"I don't know what you mean," replied Vetra as she turned her attention back to her dinner curtly.

"Oh yes, you do. How dare you, you skull-face? How dare you steal one of our men?"

At this, the Turian snorted and shook her head.

"I can't steal something that never belonged to you."

"Oh yes you can, he belonged to his people."

"Not anymore."

In three steps Alexandra crossed the distance and slapped the plate off the table and stuck her finger in Vetra's face.

"You had no right to trick him. Or to _wear_ what his mother made him, you ugly bitch."

To Amanda's surprise and rising dread Vetra did not stand nor did she react but merely folded the napkin on her lap and tossed it on her table. Regarding the young woman completely now with her blue eyes, she crossed her arms.

"He said it looks nice on me. Plus why are you here? Making a mess in Sindri's business, throwing his food on the floor, ruining his holiday?"

Tears welled in the corners of Alexandra's eyes and were quickly wiped away.

"Whatever. Where is he? I want to see him."

"I'm not letting you talk to him."

"Sindri!" Alexandra cried out.

Vetra snapped to her feet and grabbed her by the arm, slapping her hand over the young woman's mouth.

"That's enough, Alexandra! You are leav-ow!"

Recoiling, Vetra inspected the finger where the young woman had bitten her.

"Don't you touch me you, disgusting alien. You don't deserve to keep Sindri, he was meant for me!"

Clenching her fist Vetra shoved the Alexandra away and towards the doors. Her ear canals felt hot knowing that she was causing a scene and embarrassing herself in front of everyone. Just being the target of her ire and over a man no less also made her flush with shame. But this was eclipsed by genuine anger. She wasn't going to let Alexandra see Sindri.

"Don't you touch me!"

"You are so pathetic. Is that what this is about?"

With a snarl on her face, Alexandra struggled to maintain balance as she staggered backward and towards the doors. Incensed, she tilted forward and took a good look at Vetra, perhaps unreservedly for the first time.

"You don't deserve him! You can't love him the way he needs, he deserves a better woman than you."

"Who? Someone like you? Get real, you brat! The only reason you are here is that you are having a drunken tantrum because you couldn't land the man you wanted."

"We were going to get married! And then _you _ruined everything."

All the acrimony on Vetra's face evaporated in a heartbeat and a pregnant quiet overtook the room before the Turian began to laugh. The sound was trilling and bell-like, as was common to her species, and it was earnest in its expression.

"_That_ arranged marriage was to you?"

Alexandra did not answer as the scowl on her face only deepened and her heart beat faster and faster in her chest. A hot and bitter engine poisoning the blood pounding in her head.

"He wasn't interested in the slightest Alex, he was annoyed."

"You don't know that! You manipulated him! You robbed him of his clan, his family. And he is never going to love you the way he would have loved me, he will never love an alien the way he could have loved a real woman."

"Drop that shit, Sindri could have had it easy if he'd just bent the knee to the Elder and kissed the ring and you. But instead, he chose the pair of aliens his family wanted to hurt. In front of your Elder, the clan, and all the gods he chose me and Sid over you and them, you shit-wit. So get fucked and get out. Now!"

Stomping forward and wrenching Alexandra towards the door the young woman tried in vain to break the angry Turian's grip on her arm.

"Does it feel good when he's inside you? Does it feel good knowing that when he's fucking you he's probably thinking about strangling you to death too?"

Alexandra didn't see the hand as it flew to her cheek and clapped her face to the side almost knocking her off her feet. For the span of a few seconds the room held still in absolute silence as Alexandra held her face, now suddenly very sober and staring at Vetra wide-eyed and mouth agape in shock. Then the shock turned into a malicious smile like a knife being slowly pulled out of a sheath. With another snap of her hand, Vetra grabbed Alexandra by the hair and twisted her head up to look straight at her.

"You are never going to talk to Sindri, these people or me ever again. And do you know why? Because if you do, I am going to tell everyone what happened here tonight. How you came crawling back to The Apothecary begging to get railed by the Exile while completely drunk off your ass."

The young woman's face slowly gave way to an expression of dread.

"They will never believe you."

"They don't need to believe just me. But also Amanda, Grin, Jordun, Rivana, and all the others. You are going to be the laughingstock of the entire town and Pavoka too."

Tears began to well in Alexandra's eyes as incoherent anger began to redden her already ruddy expression. Her green eyes darted to the faces behind Vetra and suddenly her expression dropped and a deep look of shame overtook it as she turned on her heel and ran out of the Apothecary. The handle clattered against its own mechanism as the heavy wooden door slammed open and a great gust of cold wind marked the young woman's flight into the frigid, dark night.

With a sigh, the Turian stepped forward and shut it with a little grunt of effort. As the cold dissipated and she became aware of the crackling heat of the fireplace she flushed again with embarrassment.

_Okay, so Alexandra and I made a huge scene. Might as well just deal with whatever the rest have to say._

Turning around Vetra tried for a smile that immediately died on her lips as she locked eyes with Sindri who stood with the crowd observing her.

Suddenly at a loss for words, her mandibles quivered in anxious energy unsure of what he thought or would say.

The man stepped forward with the shadow of a smile playing on his lips and eyes. Now as before when she'd presented him with clothes he had this timid air about him that was almost meek in how shy he looked.

"Come, let me serve you another plate."

"You're not mad?"

Sindri shook his head and finally looked at her as he led her by the arm back to her seat past the rest of the people present.

"Why would I be angry with you for defending my honor?"

"Because I caused a scene."

"No, Alexandra is the one who put on a little display. You stood up for me."

Taking a single shaky breath as Sindri pulled out her chair and helped her seat herself she gestured an apology at everyone else present.

A little thrill went through her as everyone else began to converse and eat and a few quipped at Alexandra's expense, Sindri lowered himself by her ear and whispered quietly enough that no one else could hear.

"I did choose you and Sid over my clan and her. And if I knew then what I know now, I'd choose _you_ again over all others, Vetra Nyx."

As Sindri stepped away and back to the kitchen's Vetra swallowed hard and her heart thundered in her chest in a sort of giddy anxiety. It didn't take her long to realize she really wanted Sindri to come back with her plate so she could look at him again, or that she was smiling in anticipation.

-0-

The streets of Grennik were quiet. New Year's Pyre was a somewhat dichotomous celebration, the character of which was at once jubilant for what it signified but also contemplative for what it meant. Many revelers spent the eve tending their bonfires or hearths in rumination of all the sins and shortcomings of the last year and whispering oaths to improve and be better people for the next.

To any passerby, The Apothecary was raucous and broke the silence of the wind and lonely cobblestone streets. Inside, voices drawn from every corner of the known galaxy speaking in a single tongue laughed, shared, and chattered happily amongst themselves as the moons began to wheel overhead. In pairs or trios eventually, they began to depart as the night carried on; many of them unable to carry on eating or drinking themselves. Not an insignificant few speculated on the dinnertime show they were treated to. And whether or not the universe was quite so strange as to produce the coupling of a Darskirri man and a Turian woman. If nothing else, it would be good gossip.

Jordun, the old Krogan, seldom liked walking back home after drinking so much as it made his joints hurt. So he settled into the couches by the front door's entrance hall by the fireplace as was his habit. Sid curled up on the end of the couch closest to the fire, using Vetra and Sindri's jackets folded like pillows underneath her head as she snored lightly; now content with a full belly and a full day. He'd mentioned to Sindri that he was quite comfortable there and not to worry; he'd bounce away any unwanted visitors, for which the exile warmly thanked him.

Mrs. Rivana insisted on her own part to help clean up with her wife and Grin. They reasoned that if Sindri went through the trouble of cooking, then the least they could do is tidy up. He didn't complain but found it curious that this year they were so adamant that he should just leave it all to them; they even made him another cup of his spicy tea and led him to the comfortably furnished turret that sat at the corner of the Apothecary all the while insisting that he should take a rest.

Turning his head away from the stained glass windows he locked eyes with Vetra as she turned the corner and held the wall for support.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked, nerves still obvious in her eyes, her pupils pinned as she looked at him.

"Not at all, you must be tired."

At this, the Turian stopped and fidgeted with her fingers.

"I'm ok. I actually just wanted to talk to you."

Cupping his tea with both hands Sindri felt his heart jump.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No."

The word hung between them like a bush of awkward thorns. Vetra seemed so unsure of herself to Sindri, she was perhaps struggling to "speak softly" to him.

Patting the space next to him on the old couch upon where he sat the Turian took a seat being careful to not touch him or encroach on his space.

"I'll just speak plainly; did you want to talk about the flowers?"

Vetra nodded as she struggled to refrain from looking at him.

"If you don't want me to, I won't."

"I didn't say I did not want them."

For a long moment, Sindri looked at her before taking a deep breath in an effort to relax. He edged the back of his hand towards her own like he would offer it to a snarling animal to sniff. To his surprise despite her adamancy to not look at him yet her hand pulled away from him.

Then she laid it on his and interlocked her fingers with his own.

It made his heart race and looking at how she swallowed hard and turned her head to look at him fully now. Stealing glances at their hands together it was obvious how much worry she had in her eyes as if asking for permission. A little smile raised her cheeks as she looked at their entwined hands for a long moment. She liked it.

A familiar grin worked its way on Sindri's smug face.

"You have gorgeous spurs, you know."

Vetra's cheeks turned a deep shade of blue and she withdrew her hand after pushing him away half-heartedly out of embarrassment.

"Sindri Bogatyr! That is _not_ something you just say to a girl!"

"Oh? How come?"

"Don't play dumb! I bet Callux told you about stuff like that."

Trying to stifle his laughter and then failing he clapped his hands in delight as Vetra's face turned an even deeper shade of blue and she crossed her arms in faux-indignation.

"That he did. When we were deep into our cups together we'd speak of women on occasion. He liked them short with curvaceous hips and polished spurs he said."

"And how do you like them?"

"Like you."


	12. The Butcher's Bill

**As usual, thank you Stunt for your encouragement. It is both reassuring and invigorating, and thank you to everyone who has reached out or reviewed for the feedback, it is such a treat to read about your thoughts. Good or bad. I hope you enjoy what comes next, there is still a lot to write about.**

**Please excuse the terrible delay in this chapter, home life, and school had to be dealt with first and now I am free to continue writing again.**

**-Old Night**

**-0-**

Vetra felt her breath catch in her lungs as the words left Sindri's mouth. A heady rush shot through her heart and throughout a body as the thrill of what he'd said ensnared and delighted her. No correction came, no admission of a joke, just the words and his even gaze.

"How come?" she blurted out even as she cringed internally at how the filter between her brain and mouth seemed to have quietly collapsed.

Sindri's eyes didn't waver nor did his smile falter.

"I mean, did you always like Turian girls? What changed?"

With a thoughtful sigh, he slid closer to her on the couch and grasped her hand again before looking at it, then at her to check if she didn't like it. Gently he opened her palm and laid his own on it and observed them both as if to compare.

"Could ask you the same thing, Vetra Nyx."

"I asked first."

At this, he smiled earnestly.

Vetra intertwined her fingers with his own and squeezed his hand. Looking at him anew she scooted a little closer as she took a deep breath to still the energetic butterflies in her guts. Thinking about it clearly perhaps for the first time she realized, she'd never thought of humans as ugly. They were certainly very different. And hairy. All that hair everywhere. But they certainly weren't ugly. And Sindri certainly was not an ugly individual. His skin despite the wounds and scarring (which she knew he hated revealing) was fair and soft. His hair and eyes were dark and warm by contrast.

He had kind eyes, she realized.

And those eyes were looking at her now, very close. In them, she saw no anger, no disgust, no shame, or guilt. These eyes seemed the kind used to smiling, such was the cut of the creases around them that squinted to match the rise of his cheeks. There was only obvious happiness in them and unabashed needfulness to be close to her, to explore her hand, and enjoy her warmth.

"I've never offered flowers to anyone. And I never thought you'd feel this way about me."

A little blue hue asserted itself on Vetra's faceplate, and a little pride wormed its way into her heart.

"So, I'm your first huh?"

"Yes, you are."

"When did you start feeling like you wanted to grow flowers for me?"

Rolling his eyes amicably Sindri shook his head as his ears were tinged scarlet.

"You are merciless, do you know that? Shame on you, leave me some air of mystery along with my dignity."

"I want to know!"

"Why?"

"Because I had no idea you felt this way. I was embarrassed at first during the tournament when you were saluting us and when you made that little comment, you know."

"Got under your skin did it?"

"Not in a bad way, you Darskirr are so dramatic. But it's sweet in a way, you're so blunt."

"It is not our way to leave things unsaid. Especially in things like friendships, quarrels, or love."

Vetra's heart jumped in her chest and she squeezed Sindri's hand. That word, it sounded so _good_ coming out of his mouth, it sounded so sweet spoken in his voice.

She wanted to hear him say it again.

"I have a question for you, Vee."

"Anything" she exhaled, as her mandibles hugged her jaw in pleasant anxiety.

"When did you decide you wanted me for yourself?"

Grinning, the Turian shook her head.

"You first, Bogatyr."

"I asked first, Nyx."

A little modest embarrassment made Vetra uncomfortable in her soft seat.

"I'm not sure I've decided yet. But I'm selfish and you're sweet and nobody knows you like I know you. So maybe I-"

Vetra looked at Sindri in the eyes and thought for a brief moment about the long and absurd road that had brought her here and her choices to continue on it. She had chosen, hadn't she?

"Maybe nobody else deserves to be with you; and nothing about this feels wrong."

With a little blush playing across his face the human broke eye contact only for her to poke him in the chest playfully.

"Your turn."

"My people say: Home does not rest upon your hearth but upon your woman. And if I am being honest; aren't you home to me, Vetra?. You and Sid both. We skipped a few gestures and stages to get to us cohabitating but here we are, making up for the proper steps in the dance."

Turning her face away Vetra shook it, wondering if she'd misheard him. After an instant she looked at Sindri again, his expression had not changed nor had the warmth in his eyes left him.

"Sindri, is this real? How can you be so sure?"

Cringing inside, Vetra noticed how he took a deep breath before settling into comparing their hands on his lap. Was he introspective or annoyed?

_Spirits, am I killing the mood?_

"Sorry, for asking so many questions."

Shaking his head gently, the human looked back up at her.

"No, it's fine. This is new and you want to be sure. I do too."

"Sindri" Vetra began as the words strained to catch themselves in the back of her throat as her heart raced again.

"It's ok if you don't really want to. I just want to be sure you are ok with it, it gets messy otherwise."

Sindri held her gaze for a long moment before his hand came to the side of Vetra's face. He was very close now, his arm felt comforting around her shoulder. She could smell him, his scent was pleasurable and it reminded her of their home in the woods. The feeling of his fingers on her cheek made it tingle. After a moment as he drew his hand away her own shot up to keep it there.

"Vetra."

The Turian could feel his air, each puff of his breath was a delicious invitation to come closer. The thought of them locking lips was intoxicating. She looked at them and wondered if they would be as soft as she remembered them.

She didn't have to wonder for longer than an instant.

Sindri came forward and their lips met. Despite how firm the contact between them was, Vetra was struck by how gentle he was with her even as his hand on her cheek held her in place. This tender kiss was replaced with a genuine needfulness as his confidence built by her requited kissing. She could taste his breath and her own errant hands draped themselves around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

Vetra felt an indescribable joy as she squeezed Sindri tight to her chest. The comfort of his warmth and physical presence cleared her anxious mind and chased away her worries like a beam of sunlight piercing a cloud of morning mist. Where once she would have felt an awkward tension to encroaching on his personal space now she relished holding the man in her arms, having him, kissing him. This was the man who she called her closest friend, who'd sheltered and protected her and Sid and asked for nothing in return. He did not want her from the start because he could get something out of her, he loved her for her. He loved her because of who she was.

Knowing that made her feel like the luckiest Turian alive. The words came like the clear ring of a bell in her mind.

_To live, truly live._

So much had changed in a day just because she took a risk and embraced opening herself up to something she was barely willing to admit to herself. Coming apart from one another (and up for air) Vetra clasped her hand around her wrist behind Sindri's back. Resting her head on his shoulder she closed her eyes, almost drunk on the feeling of her thumping heartbeat in her chest. The human's hands explored her back and intermittently pressed her close to him. His fingertips pleasantly traced little circuits that gave her goosebumps with each lazy caress.

Sindri languidly broke the embrace and looked at Vetra.

"I love you."

"What?" she asked, suddenly very sober.

"I said, I love you," he answered with a pleasant smile.

He said it quietly but without hesitation or nerves; almost as if remarking on the state of the temperature in the Apothecary. Vetra blinked quietly while struggling to process what he said and a little unnerved by what it meant now.

This was skipping too many 'steps in the dance' for her. Even if she believed him and didn't really think she didn't feel the same way.

Like a needle pressed into a thumb she felt the mental prick of sudden awareness for the entire day's exchanges and what had brought her here. She remembered her concern for why Sindri could never find out why she'd come all those months ago in an effort to befriend him initially. And the siren call of the crate of medicine in their refrigerator at home.

"Vee, what's wrong?"

Standing up and stifling a sudden wave of self-loathing the Turian held herself and shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Why are you saying this?"

"Sindri I am not good for you. I have been an asshole for most of my adult life and done a ton of things I am not proud of. You just turned a new leaf, you deserve to be with someone honest."

"You are not a deceitful woman, Vee."

"Sindri you don't know who I am. Not really. Or why I came into your life."

"Honesty is a choice, tell me the truth then."

"Sindri, I can't. I'd rather have you hate me for pushing you away than think less of me."

"Oh, cut the shit!"

Vetra jumped at the volume and real anger in the human's voice.

"The esteem I hold you in was earned, not given. Spare me the self-pity, it's pathetic and it is beneath you and-"

The human's face twisted in a shallow grimace as his eyes darted for a moment out the dark window and the brightly lit streets of Grennik. After an instant, a little reproach came to his face as a thought almost seemed to dawn on him and the flash of anger that came over him seemed to cool instantly.

"I don't deserve your esteem, Bogatyr. Or everything you've done for me and Sid."

"And I don't deserve your loyalty but I am selfish enough to try to be worthy of it anyway. You've made me want to fight, to be a better person. What was it you called me? A pussy? For being too weak to move on from what I've seen and what I've done and what's been done to me? Well now you are on the other end, I am calling you a coward. Tell me the truth and be rid of the weight."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because-"

A look of anguish came over Vetra's expression and she knew it. The anger in Sindri's eyes now struck her differently, she hated it. And her pride was the only thing that stopped the urge to cry, just barely.

"Because I can't stand the thought of losing you."

"Because you are afraid of losing your home? You know me better than that, Vetra."

Bitterness took root inside the Turian where pain once was. She wanted to slap the Darskirr standing before her.

"Do you really think that little of me? That I'm just concerned with having you kick Sid and me out?"

Sindri's eyes flickered in doubt as a little embarrassment obviously worked its way across his heart.

"No, I suppose not."

With a sigh, Vetra looked at her feet.

She felt battered and a little scared.

"Sindri, I don't want to fight. I hate doing this with you."

Closing his eyes and breathing deeply the human looked at her again.

"As do I. Please, just speak plainly: what is troubling you so much?"

"I told you. I can't stand the thought of losing you. I trust you and I am happier with you than I've been in years. Since you came into my life and Sid's everything's only ever gotten better. I know you'd never just throw us out into the cold but I've done so many things I'm ashamed of now, I'm afraid if I tell you it'll cross some Darskirri line I won't be able to come back from and you won't look at me the way you did today anymore."

"I doubt that."

"Sindri." Vetra began.

"I am not a good person. And it's not just things I've said or done to others but things I've done to you. Or meant to."

"You needn't feel guilty about my exile. I chose it freely and I am at peace with it."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

A cold silence stretched between them with only the noise of the howling wind outside to fill the gap between them.

With hard eyes, Sindri's expression gave away to a familiar sort of guilt she hadn't seen in a long time. The kind of guilt she had seen when he'd spoken about Callux.

"I have kept secrets too. And I have many things to be ashamed over."

His ears perked up visibly and the human standing before her raised his chin by a few increments. The air around him changed and a patient but tired disdain played across his smile and tone while his eyes left Vetra and went to the hallway.

"Bottom line, Vetra Nyx." he began as his umber eyes went back to hers.

"I love you."

Stepping forward he gently cupped her hands and kissed her cheek. Equal parts sadness and joy roiled in her guts as she found herself unable to move, paralyzed by his tender hold on her sweaty hands.

"Perhaps it is time that I come clean."

"Of what?"

"I have done _unbelievable_ things to protect my home and guard my people when I believed Turians were nothing but monsters. And of what happened to Callux. Things you should know before you decide whether or not to allow yourself to love me as I've decided to allow myself to love you."

The words bubbled up like bile in the back of Vetra's gullet like an unstoppable tide as equal parts fear of rejection and a desire to come clean fought for control over her tongue.

"Sindri, I-"

Placing his hand on her chest in a gesture to stop, Sindri smiled at her without mirth.

"These words are for us alone. And not for those eavesdroppers; hiding around the bend in fact."

To her surprise, Vetra's head snapped around, and heard quick shuffling steps and muffled words as the sound quickly faded back into the clinic's halls.

"Little shit, I bet you that was Amanda."

"And Rivana and Grin. Pity only a former thug in my clinic has the sense to grant us our privacy."

"Where are you going?"

Sindri stopped just short of the corner before looking back at his Turian.

"I want to walk. Clear my head for a while and find the words I need to speak to you."

"Can I come with you? We can get some fresh air together."

"No." he replied firmly.

"The first night you spent in my home I told you the day Callux was killed is a secret that would never part my lips. I meant it then. But now I have to find the nerve to say it."

With a forlorn gaze to the outside and the colorfully hued snows given new character by his stained glass windows, his eyes closed in thought for a moment.

"Give me an hour or two. Then meet me at Calo Park. We can speak there and in private."

Vetra in a moment found herself standing alone as the receding steps of Sindri's boots faded and the gentle thud of his heavy wooden door closed.

She had a dreadful feeling in her heart that her better instincts might have been correct.

_He's never going to forgive me if I tell him. He wouldn't have gone through all this if he hadn't stood up for a thief without knowing it. Come to think of it, he wouldn't have stood up for a thief in the first place, would he?_

Frowning and lightly holding her hands to her heart as it began to ache with a loss not yet realized she thought of what Alexandra had said. And fundamentally, she was right.

What life could Sindri have had with a Turian he had no business loving?

With a Turian who'd meant to manipulate him.

With a woman who had irreversibly tarnished his standing with his people.

All this strife she'd inflicted on someone who didn't deserve it. Just because she had to try to rob an honest man who'd been through too much.

_I am such a piece of shit. I didn't save his life. I ruined it. He has no future with me or Sid in the long term. Not in a way that's healthy for him._

_If he hadn't chosen us he'd be in the hands of people who can actually love him the way he needs, as the Darskirr know how. He'd have a wife, kids, and a clan to protect and look after him. Even if he doesn't like them, they are his people. They understand each other._

Feeling the lingering ghost of his lips on hers Vetra winced with pain.

"Sindri, I should have just left Old Jinn that night without a word. I made the wrong choice then but I'll make the right one now."

As her blue eyes as they screwed shut in pain a pair of tears edged out and down her face as she cupped her mouth.

_I'm going to let you go._

-0-

Sindri ambled peaceably through Grennik's empty streets as he passed by the quiet houses of his former kinsmen. It was an easier thing he had to admit to himself, playing the villain was. Perhaps it was because he'd voiced something so intimate to someone so important to him that he was thinking clearly and his pride was subdued. Marching through the streets with his Turians and pretending he was not ashamed was an easy thing, mischief came to him as easy as breathing as did the smug arrogance he'd cultivated over the years. Even if it was insincere. A quality he hated. But now, having decided to love Vetra Nyx only to have her push back because of her guilty feelings was vexing him horrendously.

He had to speak truthfully and honestly.

She deserved that much, to get a good look at the man who was courting her.

Slowing his pace and realizing he was a little lost he looked up to the street sign.

He was on Drunzen Street.

Turning his head to his left he saw a house with white walls and a muted red roof.

As fogged as the windows were he could see Marishka Bosunovich by the broad window with a cup of wine and her three-year-old son sitting on her lap. She laughed with her guests while bouncing her son on her knee. He'd been a difficult birth for Marishka, her first child. Sindri had delivered him and entreated her husband Theo to help him. Mirrardi Darskirr left childbirth to the women and her female relatives as it turned out. Dubeka Darskirr held that fathers should learn to deliver their children. It'd been made clear to him this was a difference between the clans when she was in labor.

Theo had been an enthusiastic help as had Marishka's mother and sister. Sindri had looked for problems as her son began coming down and found he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Deftly unwrapping it he gently pulled the baby as Marishka pushed. With a single whimpering cry the baby took his first few breaths.

The new parents had sworn eternal friendship with Sindri for having saved their newborn and preserved their family before it could have been tragically cut short.

They had named him Anto and he'd been a friendly baby as Sindri had come to know him over the years.

A sweet little boy.

Marishka turned her head and looked out the window as she sipped her wine. Locking eyes with Sindri she smiled again at her guests and continued on with her happy conversation having given no indication or word that she'd seen him.

Not a wince or a frown, no acknowledgment that he was even out there.

It was just as well, his birthstone was broken and he did not exist. Not really. Not anymore. Not to Nikita, or Grandmother or James. And certainly not to her.

This would have grieved him privately as recently as earlier that day. But now it felt like someone else's life.

Now his life was different and would remain so if he could muster the courage to tell Vetra what had truly happened on Dubek and to Callux. To confess his sins to who deserved to know, for there should be no grievous secrets between kindred.

He felt dread and shivered from the thought of voicing to Vetra what perhaps not even the Gods had borne witness to.

Sindri Bogatyr was a coward and he let his friend die.

He'd wanted to run away out of shame so badly he couldn't even muster the courage to drive to Kuov and attend his funeral. The thought of looking at his parents and sister in the eye after what he'd done made suicide seem eminently less painful.

But now things were different. He had to be strong, he was someone's older brother and he could not fail his little sister. Not the way he'd failed his birth siblings.

Besides, Vetra deserved the truth. Even if she misguidedly thought she was bad for him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a few figures move to the window.

James and Alexandra venomously glared at him from inside the house.

Sindri blew them a kiss with a grand sweep of his arm as he sauntered away and down the lonely street in a roundabout path to his destination.

His mind wandered to a time and a place that did not exist. A place where Vetra had accepted him despite his faults and his shame. A time when he'd finally atoned for them and become a man worthy of the devotion of his two Turians, a time when he could hold his head up high with the pride of the courageous. A future where Vetra and he were married and the Nyx sisters took the name Bogatyr and would become the very first Turian Darskirr. The thought of this strange little clan of three pleased him and frightened him in equal measure. This was a pure fantasy he knew. But a future where Vetra and he raised their nieces and nephews by Sid and her future husband made him inexplicably happy and hopeful perhaps for the first time in years.

"The Darskirri clan Bogatyr, a clan of Turians. I am such an idiot." he wheezed as laughter erupted from his guts.

Yes, it was a pleasant fantasy. But that's all it was. The most he should hope for was for Vetra's embrace and to see a new day with her.

_Seems unlikely. But who knows? Even Gods may die._

The Exile continued his happy path and turned the corner.

Oblivious of the people who followed him at a distance.

**-0-**

Trudging through the juvenile and scant woods of Calo Park with an almost timid trepidation, Sindri leafed through his errant thoughts like a man skipping pages in a book with no clear plot or answers.

Breathing deeply he admitted to himself it was not the cold or the relative darkness of the place that bothered him; or the frigid air but the burning fear that now coursed through his veins. He knew in his heart now as he knew amidst the woods in Dubek before an attack on the Turians that his next steps would dictate the new path he'd take in life. He was terrorized beyond reckoning at the thought of assaulting the aliens. The mere thought of leveling his rifle, sighting his enemy, and squeezing the trigger seemed like such an insurmountable task.

Until he chose to be brave and fight as his kindred did. And now, life called to him to be brave again.

The snow crunched under his boots as he breathed deep and the shameful confession stuck to his tongue like blood. It fought against being spat out but it also would not allow itself to be swallowed back down.

_It's poison._

Vetra had taken a risk in telling him how she felt, she was behaving as a good Darskirr does; without shame or secrets holding her down and no feral cunning to weigh advantages or subterfuge. She'd told him she loved him too with a bundle of clothes. But he wasn't being honorable, and this was not the way a man worthy of her and Sid would behave.

He needed to tell the truth.

But how to phrase it?

Shaking his head he closed his eyes and breathed deep.

Winter was about to end, but if he was being perfectly honest it was his favorite time of the year. He loved the stillness and the flakes of glittering glass that would pick up with the wind and shine with moonlight.

The food was particularly good as well.

Finding a bench to sit on to his right amidst a clearing in the trees he trudged towards and sat while burying his hands in his pockets.

"Vetra," he began under his breath.

He could still feel the ghost of her lips on his and the thought made him recoil. The look on her face once he revealed himself for who and what he was. The words would not come.

In the muted quiet of the bench's grove, Sindri heard the crunch of snow from whence he'd approached. A shadow rose over the edge of the hill and its outline cut itself away from the inky blackness of the trees and stones. It was a man and a few others with him. Holding his breath for a long moment Sindri narrowed his eyes as if to pierce through the darkness. Were they revelers? If they were they were at a strange lack of words.

His suspicions increased as these four didn't deviate around him, so sure was he that they couldn't see his face as he could not see theirs.

It was not unlikely that they'd invite him to walk with them, perhaps to drink, obviously not seeing who he is. It was only good manners after all.

"Hey Sindri." one of them called.

He recognized his cousin's voice, James. The man and his three goonish friends didn't trouble him overmuch as the four of them were heavy drinkers and a common sight on most nights, never less than three of them together. Idiots, all of them. And to address him by his name, they must definitely be drunk.

"Good evening, James."

Gesturing to his companions to wait the man approached the Exile with careful eyes but a soft tone.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"Why?" asked Sindri, as his eyes wandered to fingers, pockets, and coats where cigarettes and lighters were produced and a little flask of drink.

"Because I wanted to talk to you. I don't think we ever really did talk about what happened."

This was new to the Exile but despite his being on edge he knew he could take all four of them if it came to that. It didn't trouble him at all to share the bench with his former kinsmen, especially if he was going to be uncharacteristically diplomatic. James was just a loud idiot at worst.

"I do not mind."

James sat with a nervous amicability as he drew a box of cigarettes and offered one to Sindri who shook his head, still looking at hands and pockets.

"So uh-How've you been?"

"Fair, actually. I'm happy."

Nodding and taking a long drag as he savored the smoke, the young man looked at his older cousin and smiled.

"So, why'd you do it?"

Sindri looked at his cousin in the eye for a long time before he broke his gaze upward towards the treetops, still keeping the men around him in the periphery.

Why not just speak to a man who hated him? The Darskirr truly could not think less of him and his friends wouldn't believe any malevolent lies out of the clan.

"Why did I do what?"

"You know. Defend that thi-I mean, alien. Why'd you defend the Turian? Why aren't you ever ashamed of yourself?"

Taking a deep breath Sindri exhaled the bloody words in his mouth. Who better to be honest with than a man who had come to despise everything he was?

"Because defending Vetra and Sid is nothing to be ashamed of. I have enough deeds I'd rather not remember to feel ashamed about."

"But they are Turians, they hate our kind."

With a smile, Sindri turned to really look at his cousin for the first time in months and felt sure of himself. James was so ignorant. Again his thoughts turned to Vetra and happier times. Walking in the woods with her or sitting between the sisters while watching ancient Terran movies and a few Martian ones every so often. The way Sid looked up to him and the way Vetra came to trust and rely on him. It made him feel like a real man again. To be wanted and loved.

To have been embraced by a woman who saw the stars in his eyes, if only for a single kiss.

"Vetra doesn't hate humans. She's friends with a few of them and she's friends with me."

"_Really_ good friends I hear."

"Watch your tone."

The young man hissed as he exhaled, a grimace of disgust playing across his mouth.

"How you could ever care for those people I will never understand."

"James, I had to grow up without the guidance of my forefathers and I've suffered for it. How was I to learn how to deal with having lost my entire family without their wisdom to help me rein in all the pain I was feeling. So I took it out on the Turians who burned down my village and killed my parents. What I did was past just or vengeful, the lengths I went to were evil of me. I don't want to be that man anymore."

"The Turians are evil, Sindri. You learned that first hand, I just don't understand how you could-"

"They are not evil at all, they are just like us humans. You shouldn't hold such a grudge against them."

Scoffing, James leaned forward and slapped his knee as his teeth squeezed the end of his vice between smoking breaths.

"How couldn't we? After all, they did to us? Don't you remember what it felt like? How you felt?"

"I have chosen to forgive them. I have not however chosen to forgive you and Nikita for murdering my friend because of your selfishness. You couldn't tolerate me moving on from what happened to me, fine kinsman you and your brother are."

At this, the young man stared at the Exile, mouth agape, before swiftly shaking his head.

"You idiot. We didn't kill Callux for us, we killed him for you."

Sindri turned his eyes towards his cousin in genuine confusion.

"What?"

"Who do you think we learned it from? Don't you remember what you were like when you got off that ship? You hated those fucking aliens with a rage so rich and so pure I could have lubricated a rig engine with it. And then you went and played the martyr because we killed one of them? Brother and I don't care about Adrix or Karron or the other Turians in town. We cared about Callux because he was influencing you."

Standing up with a grunt the cousin took a final, long drag before flicking away the cigarette. The moonlight played on the shadows on his face like a shattered porcelain mask, all his buried words now lay bare.

"You were my hero, Sindri. I loved you, so did Nikita and Alexandra. Every day we had to watch you walk around with this hurt inside you. Every year we had to watch you come to our homes for New Year's Pyre like a stray dog and we always made you stay the week because we knew you were all alone. And you tried to hide it so hard and help so many of us as a healer. You had honor and dignity, you walked tall in this town like you were a king. And we loved you for it."

"And then one day **he** shows up and it's like you lost your mind, all smiles and hugs for that fucking creature that shot your clansmen! And then you stopped talking to us! You walked around like you forgot what happened to you and you treated him like he was closer to you than we were; like we couldn't understand how much you were hurting inside when we were the ones who breathed life back into you, who hated them as you did because we felt what you felt every day."

Sindri sat silently, suddenly feeling raw and lost.

"We killed Callux because there was absolutely no way that _our_ Sindri, the Hero of Fulga River, could ever forgive the enemies that tried to commit genocide on the Dubekan Clan when he'd fought them so hard. That Turian had to have something over you. And then, years later you protect one of their females and choose to give away everything and everyone to protect them. Sindri, you don't realize it but you are mad. Truly mad. I don't care that you can make friends with them or the other aliens, they aren't like us and they will always look at the clans like enemies or rivals to kill off. I remember what your rage tasted like, the pain too. I'd rather die than let what happened to you, happen to my clan."

"James", croaked Sindri as he struggled to find his voice through the body blow that came to him.

_I created the men who murdered Callux. Oh Gods, oh Gods what have I done?!_

"They aren't evil, James. Vetra is good, she's kind and so is Sid."

At the mention of their names, James spat on the ground.

"Which brings me to why I'm here. Alexandra told me what happened at your clinic. How the Turian assaulted her after she came to check up on you and how you've been sharing your bed and giving yourself to it."

"She is lying! Alexandra was making an ass of herself and she was thrown out of the Apothecary."

"Look me in the eye, Sindri. And tell me you are not in love with that thing. Tell me that you are not growing flowers for it."

The Exile stood sharp and angry even as his cousin sat still with palpable acrimony in his eyes. He looked at the goons and noticed how calm they were and how placidly they smoked as they watched the exchange.

He felt suddenly like he was very close to danger.

"Why are you men armed?"

The goons did not move but James stood and opened his jacket revealing a sharpened hatchet strapped to his belt.

Bitterly he put his hand on the head of the small axe and looked at Sindri, genuinely amazed.

"How did you know?"

"I lied. Either you'd have them or you wouldn't."

With a short barking laugh, James drew his hatchet and his friends drew a similar assortment of weapons.

"Crafty devil. For what it's worth I am sorry."

Popping a button from his greatcoat open as he carefully watched the others, Sindri drew his long knife dearly wishing he had another.

"For murdering me in cold blood?"

"No." James added as he stepped forward.

"For not having killed you sooner. You should have died on Dubek and been spared all this. I'll send you to your parents and I'll send Vetra and Sid straight to hell right afterwards."

-0-

"I'm so sorry Vetra," said Amanda in a low tone. Her bright blue eyes which so often glittered with happiness now were glassy and red.

The Turian shook her head and glanced at her younger sister still sleeping deeply on the couch by the warm fireplace.

"It's not your fault, I shouldn't have listened to you." she breathed as anxiety nipped at her feet.

"So, Ms. Nyx what do you intend to do when you speak to Doctor Bogatyr?" intoned Grin, outwardly no more agitated than the sleeping little Turian but her acute focus on Vetra betraying some poorly expressed anxiety.

Rubbing the back of her neck, Vetra winced.

"I'm going to leave him."

"But why? You two fit so well together, I thought you were happy."

"Rivana, I am not good for him. Period. He deserves to be with his own kind. This will hurt him but he's tough, he'll land on his feet and figure it out."

"I am sure you are aware, Ms. Nyx, Mr. Bogatyr is an exile, he-"

"I know Grin. I was there."

"But he has no familial future with the clan. His only recourse would be to find a suitable mate with the non-Darskirr."

"She knows that, Grinnisaria. Vee, you guys just had a little argument. Why are you leaving him?"

Shaking her head and looking into the fire the Turian scowled with a hard stare.

"It's not about that. I want Sindri to have a future with someone that can love him the way he deserves. He's a good man."

Jordun exhaled sharply through his nostrils, the noise passed for what Krogans would do for a snort.

"Then be that person, Vetra."

"I can't."

"Can't or won't? Listen, Nyx. Despite how irritating the clan in Grennik is they have a lot of admirable qualities. Most of them are Krogan qualities too. We Krogans choose who we fight and who we love and who we stand by, and so do they. Sindri ain't gonna let you go, I can tell you that. And if you try to bullshit him by hurting his feelings he's going to smell that lie a mile away."

"He doesn't have a say in it."

Exhaling again, Jordun turned his lips towards a drink he was slowly nursing down.

"What about Sid?" asked Mrs. Rivana.

Glancing at her younger sister who wore Sindri's poncho like a blanket and tucked her nose into his jacket like a pillow, she frowned but tried hard to hide it. It'd be like getting her shin plates drilled but it was better than the alternative.

"She'll get over it. She is a tough kid."

Deep inside, Vetra dreaded her sister's reaction to losing her brother.

And knowing that the last look Sindri would give her wouldn't be like when he'd kissed her and told her he loved her.

-0-

Pain

All across his battered body, Sindri felt the dull aches and frigid, coursing agonies of fresh cuts and bruises. He was not sure how long after his cousin and his friends had drawn blades on him he'd slept on the cold ground. Time was become hard to measure. There was a distant sense of urgency that motivated the dregs of disciplined efforts that were rapidly leaking out of him.

He struggled to get up and felt a deep but awkward pain in his abdomen. He looked down at his torn coat and pawed at where it was torn, his wrist found a hole, and his hand came away soaked in blood.

The dark was playing tricks on him. Perhaps an injury or two had broken his hands or perhaps the cold was withering his senses but he could not see his fingers or palms on his bleeding wrists. And his neck felt wet and ragged.

Again his wrist probed the injury despite being terribly bloody itself.

He needed to know. He had to make sure.

His skin felt the full and intermittent flow of blood against his naked forearm. Medical training told him what his instincts already knew. This was arterial damage and he was dying.

Drawing his bloody wrist to his side he held it away from his body as strings of thick red blood whipped away from him, carried off by the howling wind.

The scent of blood pushed him further away from reality.

He had fought hard, hadn't he? Clarity escaped him as he struggled to recall if he'd killed anyone or how he'd ended up alone. Memories came to him like a drunken haze as what had been done to him felt like something that had happened a lifetime ago and to a different man.

He needed to hurry home. His friends would be worried.

On quaking legs Sindri wrapped his elbow around a sapling like a walking stick and breathed deep, trying to mask the fear nipping at his nerves.

The fire inside him was rapidly fading, it's cinders the only thing still lending him the courage to hurry through the dark woods. They seemed so deep to him and so dark and so very very cold.

He staggered against his own waning vigor and gravity trying to pull him down as his eyes strained to find the path out of the labyrinthine woods. With a painful grimace, he began to stumble forward.

As he continued his pace, shadows threatened to take his sight at the edges of his vision, all his will was bent towards taking another step for he knew that if he fell he didn't have the strength to rise again.

Unbidden his mind began to race with images, sounds, feelings and smells of a life whose thread was almost completely unraveled and he recalled with perfect clarity everything he'd done.

What did he have to fear then, really?

Sindri thought that twenty-eight years was generous, and a great deal of time for anyone.

None of the young men in his village had gotten to make families. And he'd gotten to make one, drawn from every corner of the galaxy.

He'd been luckier than he had any right to be and he had to be brave for them. He could not fall asleep or lay down. Not yet.

They needed him to come home.

Continuing forward as the wind swayed him, he walked towards the darkest part of the woods. His greatcoat, a gift from Amanda, whipped stiffly on his back as it grew heavy with his blood.

Opening his eyes wide, trying to cast away the shadows, he narrowed his vision into the dark trees and the hint of lights in the distance behind them. He knew he was on the right track. Looking down he realized that the snow was in a neat pattern between a rock-lined path that led out of the woods.

Why did this seem so befuddling and why hadn't he noticed it before?

No matter, the Gods did indeed have a sense of humor.

The human clenched his abdominal muscles and forced his failing eyes open.

He tried rubbing his vision back to sharp detail in the cold wind. Ungracefully he rubbed and rubbed and rubbed with hands he couldn't see or get to work and only succeeded in smearing blood on his face.

Sheepishly Sindri opened his crimson eyes again and frowned. His eyes were getting worse and the distant nerve pain in his abdomen told him he didn't have long to get back to the Apothecary. His coat felt heavy and his balance uneven.

_Gods, I am so tired._

The opaque woods and fresh snow for a moment reminded him of his father, he felt like a lost boy again and dearly wished he was here. He'd know what to do.

He'd always known what to do when he'd taken him hunting as a child on a snowy moon much like this planet.

Before Sindri had left Dubek.

Before the Turians came and his village went up in flames.

Before he saved Callux.

Before he met Vetra and Sid.

Before his mother and father gave him siblings.

Before his father told him he was to protect, love, and care for them.

Before his father had shown him what it was to be a man.

Sindri was ready to make it back home.

He missed them.

With wet eyes and firmer legs he stood straight and stepped forward and against the shallow incline of the hill that worked so murderously to slow him down.

Each step felt like he'd run for miles and the increasing weight of his own body worked against him. But the end was in sight, if only he could reach the top of the hill he'd be but a short walk from home with Vetra and his parents.

Skidding on a patch of ice buried under fresh snow Sindri slipped as he reached the gentle summit. He didn't know if he struck his head. The fog in his brain only became thicker, like cloying, stifling smoke with the consistency of sludge.

_Surely, there is something more I can do?_

_Ah yes._

_This isn't so bad. My coat is keeping me cozy and the cold isn't too harsh._

Reaching up with all the strength left in him Sindri laboriously sat back up and against a tree atop the hill overlooking Grennik. Glancing around he realized this was the tree by which he and Vetra had shared a meal after a run-in with his cousins. Sid told him she loved him under this wispy tree. Far and away from him and several hundred yards down the hill and past the reveler's braziers was the edge of Calo Park and many blocks past that, nestled in the town's heart somewhere, was the Apothecary.

The walk ahead of him was so very long he realized, and drawing breath was so hard. His eyelids were heavy and closing them felt warm. Part of him screamed in an ever more muffled pitch that resting was a dangerous affair, that if he fell asleep he'd never wake again.

Sindri couldn't find it in himself to care as a feeling of well-being came upon him.

Only a little rest, just to catch his breath. Then he'd go home and be with Vetra and Sid.

Sindri Bogatyr closed his eyes as the last dying breath of winter washed over him.


End file.
